


A New Beginning

by Im_a_Hufflepuff_okay



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mortal, Alternate Universe - Normal High School, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, M/M, References to Depression, References to Panic Attacks, Slow Build, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-08-25
Packaged: 2018-11-13 01:28:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 20,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11174172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Im_a_Hufflepuff_okay/pseuds/Im_a_Hufflepuff_okay
Summary: Will Solace was incredibly talented. He had left about two years ago to move to California after getting discovered on the internet, like everyone nowadays, and thrived. Everywhere I turned, I would see him; social media ate him and his good looks up. He made me a promise that we’d talk every day, but eventually it got old not knowing who or what he was talking about. We had been friends for as long as I could remember, never separating, and it stung to let him go. I assumed our small town and I would be forgotten.





	1. When I See You Again

Will Solace was incredibly talented. He had left about two years ago to move to California after getting discovered on the internet, like everyone nowadays, and thrived. Everywhere I turned, I would see him; social media ate him and his good looks up. He made me a promise that we’d talk every day, but eventually it got old not knowing who or what he was talking about. We had been friends for as long as I could remember, never separating, and it stung to let him go. I assumed our small town and I would be forgotten. 

I am practically invisible. When you’re five feet and five inches, pale, “goth looking”, weird, and generally look like you either want to die or kill someone, people tend to stay away from you. Everyone always joked about how opposite Will and I were, and even I could see it. Will was probably six feet tall, muscular and tanned, attractive, and not to mention always… happy. He was not the person I would ever talk to, or be around, but Will was somehow different. I became immune to the annoying sunshiny part I guess. In middle school, girls would flock around him, and push me away just to get to him, yet he would always shoo them away and stay by me.  
In ninth grade, just before he left, one particular girl, Drew Tanaka, became infatuated with him. She literally stalked him and would tell everyone that they were, “not putting a label on their relationship”. Everyone already thought they ought to be together because she was one of the prettiest (and most popular) girls in our school, and he was one of the hottest guys.  
To be honest, I was never quite sure why he never went out with her. She was pretty, I guess… I’ve never really looked at her (or many girls at all) that way, but I was sure Will did. He had always seemed to want to be a social outcast. He was the captain of the soccer team, girls couldn’t seem to keep their panties on around him, and everyone seemed to like him. Yet, every party invite he got, he would always turn down and hang out with me instead.  
Anyway, Drew was incredibly distraught over Will leaving, and not getting a goodbye. I was sure she would have given up on him, being that he was halfway across the country, yet here she sat, at my lunch table, looking as if she had just won the lottery.  
“Have you heard the news?!” She squealed.  
“No?” I said in between bites of my sandwich.  
She looked disgusted as I replied with my mouth full, yet brushed it off and began overflowing with excitement again.  
“Apparently Will’s coming back to town!” She squealed even louder.  
I nearly choked on my sandwich, but thankfully Drew wasn’t paying attention. “What?!” I asked franticly.  
“Aren’t you supposed to be his friend or something?” She asked disgusted, again.  
I looked down at my feet for a second, “Y-yeah…”  
“Then keep up!” She scoffed. “I can’t believe we’ll be together again!”  
“Y-You do know that you weren’t ever… together, right?”  
She pretended to not hear me.  
I paused, “How do you even know that he’s coming back?”  
She half glared at me, “I have my sources.”  
“O-kay…” I said, paying attention to my lunch again. “When… When will he be back?” I asked hesitantly.  
She rolled her eyes as if my question inconvenienced her. “I don’t know for sure, but I think next week.”  
“O-Oh.” I said, almost disappointed for some reason. “Why are you telling me this again?”  
“I don’t know, I just thought maybe you’d be useful for once and know something about it. Guess I was wrong.” She said cheerily, getting up and sashaying away to her table before I could speak. 

 

Music class is my favorite class. I’ve always loved to play music and instruments; they convey secret messages and feelings through notes and tone. I learned how to play the piano as a child in Venice, but I decided that the violin was going to be my next challenge. I still remember the day we chose to play, Will and I. I automatically went to the smallest of the instruments, being childlike and most likely to get crushed by a bass, even though its hollow wood. Will seemed fascinated by the cello. He always said that he liked how they were sometimes not heard, yet they still played an important part. I guess sort of like him too.  
I wouldn’t say that I was necessarily the best at the violin, but I was pretty good. Miss Muse, however, thought I ‘ought to be the best violin player in the country. She pretty much idolized Will and I and it was irritating.  
I pulled out a stand and a chair to the corner of the room, like I usually do at the start of class. I took out a random piece of music by Beethoven and began playing.  
The music wasn’t difficult to play, and my thoughts began to wander. Somewhere in my mind, I thought I heard a familiar voice; Will’s voice. It’s odd that I’d think of his voice of all things.  
“Miss Muse, it’s good to see you again.”  
That time, it seemed clearer, almost like he was in the same room. That, of course, was impossible. He wasn’t supposed to be back yet.  
“Thank you, William, you’re too kind!” Miss Muse giggled almost too happily.  
Her speaking the name William got me interested. I glanced up for half a second to see Will, sunshine-y and freckled as ever, and Miss Muse blushing and slightly frazzled at his presence. His intense blue eyes were trained on me, despite the fact he was talking to someone.  
I, Nico Di’Angelo, never mess up while playing. Especially while playing a piece I’ve memorized, but actually seeing Will in person for the first time in almost two years made me hesitate and mess up. 

 

His eyebrows went up just a fraction as I missed a few notes. I blushed, trying to push the flustered feeling away.  
“So, William, why are you here?” Miss Muse asked, as if she already didn’t know that he was coming back. Every time he would come up in the news or on the internet, she would show us and swoon over her “star student”, as if he owed her his talent.  
Will’s eyes shifted back to hers. “Well, I’ve decided to come home.” He said, a little loudly, obviously for me to hear.  
Irritatingly enough, I messed up again.  
“Oh my! William, how could you leave California?! You’ve got so much talent!” She said a little too enthusiastically.  
“I uh… I felt like it was time to come home. I missed this place too much I guess.”  
I dared to look up, and saw that Will was looking at me again.  
“Oh, well, I’m glad you’ve decided to come back to school. With you being a star and all!”  
Even I cringed at that.  
“Y-yes, well…” he trailed off awkwardly.  
“So, when are you coming back?” she asked hopefully.  
“Next week. On Monday.”  
“Oh, that fast?! How wonderful! You’ll be able to participate in ensemble groups if you practice enough!”  
“Oh, cool.” He said, hardly paying attention.  
Miss Muse finally looked to where Will was staring at and smiled, “Oh, yes. I’ll leave you to catch up.” She said warmly.  
I still had a couple of measures left as Will strode towards me. He politely waited as I finished.  
I didn’t look at him as I rearranged my music, but I could tell he was grinning. He did that a lot.  
“So, who’s in your ensemble group?” he asked.  
I wanted to tell him that that was a stupid thing to say after not talking for a year and a half, but I didn’t.  
“I am.” I said simply, not looking at him.  
“Who else?” he pressed.  
“J-just me.” I said, slightly embarrassed. “I-I’m doing a solo.”  
I would’ve liked to be in an ensemble group, but Will was the social one.  
“Can I join you?”  
“It’s called a solo for a reason, Will.” I said, finally looking at him.  
Will snorted, although my joke wasn’t that funny. “C’mon Neeks, I haven’t played in a while and…” he paused. “I wanna play with you again, just like old times.”  
I felt my face heat up a little, “Another good reason not to partner up with you; you’re out of practice. You probably suck now.”  
Will’s face lit up again as the tardy bell rang. I had hardly even noticed that the classroom was filling up. Everyone seemed to be staring at Will, some more secretive about it than others.  
Will saw me glancing behind him and his face turned pink at everyone’s attention.  
He turned back to me, “Meet me at D’s after school, yeah?” he asked, slightly quieter.  
I hesitated, remembering why we stopped talking in the first place.  
“C’mon Neeks, we can catch up.” He said with a wink.  
I barely had time to respond before he turned and lumbered out.

“Well, are you going to do it?” Hazel asked me as we walked to the parking lot after school.  
“I-I don’t know! We haven’t talked in like a year. It’s weird to be around him now.”  
She rolled her eyes at me. “He’s your best friend. You need to talk to him! You have like, no friends left besides Percy and I, and you don’t even talk to Percy.”  
“Thanks for reminding me.” I scoffed.  
Hazel’s practically my sister, mostly because she’s nosey and never leaves me alone, but she cares. Percy was my best friend before Will, but then he got a girlfriend and joined the baseball team and became kind of popular, like Will. He’s also older than me, and his older friends were irritating to be around.  
“Just go, Nico. You need Will back in your life. Do I need to remind you about what happened after he left?” she said, suddenly serious.  
I shuddered, hoping she wouldn’t bring it up. “N-no…”  
“Okay, then you’re going!” she pushed.  
Luckily, we had made it to our cars, so I could escape her big-sister-talk. I hopped in my black Jeep and waved Hazel goodbye.  
“You’re going!” She shouted as I pulled out of the parking space.

 

D’s Diner was owned by a slightly old, slightly drunk man that was sometimes nice, but in his own way. Mr. ‘D’ was short for something, but he never told anyone, because apparently it was a weird name. Some people called him Mr. Drunk. Original.  
When I walked into the diner, Mr. D instantly walked over and smiled. He apparently took pity on me and was nice to me. Why? I could never guess.  
“Di’Angelo, where’ve you been?”  
“B-busy, sir.” I said, feeling a little guilty. The last time I had been here was when Will was about to leave.  
“Too busy to stop by? I feel hurt. Take a seat.” He ordered.  
I sat in the booth Will and I usually sat in and waited for Mr. D to come back.  
He brought me a coffee and a menu, and leaned against the table.  
“How’ve you been?” He asked.  
“Okay.” I said simply. “I-I’m meeting someone here; can I have another menu?”  
“Oh!” Mr. D exclaimed, grinning at me. “Is that so? I little Nico meeting someone special?” he taunted.  
“N-No! I’m just meeting Will.” I said franticly, heat spreading on my face.  
“Will, Will Solace?” he asked with sudden interest.  
“Y-yes sir?”  
“Huh.” He said, almost relieved. “That’s good. I thought I heard that his mother got sick. Poor Naomi, she’s too good for that.”  
“Sick?” I asked, almost panicked. “What do you mean?”  
“Why don’t you ask Will.” He said, motioning to the boy that just walked through the door. “Solace!” He barked.  
Will jumped. He was always intimidated by Mr. D.  
“H-hello Mr. D. Good to see you again.” He said with a polite smile.  
“How you been doing?” he asked.  
“Great, Mr. D. How are you?”  
“Fine,” Mr. D said, moving off the edge of the table. “Enjoy your meal.”  
Will sat and sighed. “I forgot how… scary he is.”  
“He’s not that scary.” I teased. I thought for a moment, “Will, I’m so sorry about your mom. If I would have known, I-I -”  
“You didn’t know.” He cut me off.  
“But I should have still stopped by.”  
“Why would you want to hang out with my mother while I was gone?” he joked. “It’s not like it’s your fault that she’s sick.”  
I opened my mouth to say something but Will gave me a look that said, ‘leave it’, so I did.  
Mr. D came back with our food, although we didn’t order. He just knew what we wanted to eat because we had been there so often.  
“Maybe you boys should eat something else other than this sometime?” he mocked before he left us again.  
We ate silently until I got the nerve to speak. “How was California?”  
“Hot.” He said, “And boring.”  
“Really, California was boring?” I asked.  
“Hey, I technically went there for a job.” He pointed out.  
There was a pause.  
“Why’d you come back?” I asked quietly.  
“Wow, getting straight to the point.” He laughed a little.  
I stared at him seriously.  
“Can’t I just come back for my mom?” he asked.  
I took a sip of coffee and shrugged, “There’s always another reason with you.”  
He sighed and shifted. “I just missed this.”  
“This?” I asked curiously. Something in my stomach stirred, but I wasn’t sure why.  
He flushed, “You- You know… Being at the diner… And… Everyone…”  
“Right.” I said, looking at my plate.  
“Anyway, enough about me. How’ve you been?” He asked, his usual happy attitude back.  
I shrugged, “Same as ever I guess…”  
Will frowned a little. “Have you had any more… ‘episodes’ lately?”  
I shrugged again.  
“When?” he asked. He had a look in his eye that said he wasn’t playing around.  
“R-Right after we s-stopped talking.” I stuttered quietly.  
Suddenly, Will sprang up and was on my side of the booth. He wrapped his strong arms around me and held me really close to his chest.  
“Nic,” He sighed into my hair. “You should have told me.”  
“W-we weren’t talking. That’s what you do when you don’t t-talk to someone.” I said, my voice muffled in his chest.  
That feeling was back in my stomach, and I could feel my face heating. This wasn’t weird. ‘Friends hug all the time, right?’ I thought. It wasn’t really a hug though, it was more like an embrace. Not quite intimate, but full of emotion.  
“I don’t care, Nico, you should have told me.”  
He leaned back a little, and I saw his face was red too. I saw that his stunning blue eyes were darting all over my face, waiting for a reaction or response.  
“Are you really… back?” I asked curiously.  
He gave a blinding smile, “I don’t think there’s anything in the world that could get me to leave again.”  
There was a pause.  
“I hate to say it, but I missed you Sunshine Boy.”  
“I missed you too, Di’ Angel-o.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I'm new at this. You probably noticed, yikes. I'd like to have a schedule for updating chapters, but I honestly don't know if I'll stick to it, though I literally have nothing else to do, so who knows? Please leave suggestions and criticism (good or bad, I don't care, I just need to know if I'm shit or not). If you'd like to see anything in future chapters, comment or message me and I'll see what I can do! 
> 
> Side note: The story is not necessarily centered around Nico being depressed and stuff, but it does have a VERY MINOR part in it so make of it what you will.  
> ALSO: I changed Piper's character to Drew Tanaka. She's more of a minor character and I like Piper so I didn't want to make her mean or anything...


	2. Ready or Not

We payed and walked out to the parking lot together. Will had parked his old, blue pick-up truck next to my Jeep. I pulled myself in the driver seat and rolled down the window.  
Will leaned on the door and poked his head in the car, “Do you still have my number?” he joked.  
“Yeah.” I said, rolling my eyes.  
“Good.” He said, flashing his smile again.  
I pushed some of my hair out of my eyes and looked away shyly.  
“Neeks?” Will asked.  
I looked at him. He opened his mouth, then closed it again.  
“I… I’ll see you at school.” He said.  
“Yeah, see you at school.” 

The second I got back to my older sister, Bianca’s, apartment, Hazel texted me.  
_So, how’d it go?_

I rolled my eyes, cursing her sixth sense of literally everything.  
**Fine.**  
I sent, hoping she would drop the conversation. Of course, she didn’t.  
_Nico Di’Angelo, if you don’t tell me the juicy details I will show up at your house and make you tell me yourself._  
I sighed. I guessed it was better to text her than have to relive every detail in person.  
**We just talked… That’s it. There’s nothing else to say.**  
_How did he seem?_  
**What do you mean?**  
_Was he like, happy to see you? To be back?_  
**Yeah, I think a little.**  
_Hmm… Okay_ :/  
**What?**  
_Nothing…_  
I frowned.  
_So, is he really coming back to school?_  
**Yes. I think he said on Monday.**  
_Wow, I almost expected that to be a rumor. I would have thought he didn’t want things to be weird by coming back._  
**I guess… Either way, I’m kind of glad he’s back.**  
_Yeah, I bet ;)_

 **W-what’s that supposed to mean?!**  
_Nothing. Gotta go, see you on Monday!_  
I wanted to press and ask what she met, but I knew she wouldn’t answer.  
I fell back against the door and sighed. Hazel could be so confusing sometimes.  
I listened for Bianca, but didn’t hear anything. She was probably still at work. I kicked off my shoes and shuffled to my room.  
My room isn’t that special. There isn’t a lot of color, in fact, there is no color. There’s only black, grey, or a minimalistic white. It’s small, and there’s barely enough room for my bed and desk.  
I jumped down on my bed and closed my eyes.  
Will was coming back. He was actually going to be here again. I wasn’t going to be alone anymore. Hazel, as nice as she is, is very social. She has other friends, and while she always tells me she’ll be there for me, she usually has ten other things going on. Not to mention she’s in student council.  
Some part of me felt weird, being so co-dependent on Will. He, quite literally at times, was like sunshine in my gloomy life. After he left for California, I didn’t know what to think or do. He promised me that we would talk, daily if he could. One day, however, he just stopped. I would try to talk to him, and he would give almost half-hearted replies. He also sometimes forgot what he had and hadn’t told me.  
He seemed almost… different somehow. At the diner, he had acted like he had never gone to California. I wondered if he was going to bring it up. Knowing Will, he probably wasn’t; he was never really good with conflict. 

The weekend went by fast. I mostly played videogames and barely touched my homework.  
Monday morning, I woke up with anxiety. This was the first day that Will was going to be back at school again.  
I got dressed and walked into the kitchen.  
“Will’s here.” Bianca said as soon as she saw me.  
“What?” I asked, still in a sleepy haze.  
“He called earlier and said he wanted to drive you to school, ‘for old time’s sake’.” She quoted.  
Of course Will would be sappy and pick up our old routine when he was back.  
Bianca smiled at me as she handed me my backpack. “You should have told me he was back.”  
“There wasn’t a reason to.” I mumbled as I walked out the door.  
Will looked as if he had been up for hours. He was as bright eyed and cheery as ever. I had forgotten he usually got up at the crack of dawn to train or practice.  
“Good morning.” He said happily as I climbed into his truck.  
“Mhm.” I grumbled sarcastically.  
Will handed me a coffee and sighed happily.  
“Coffee?” I asked curiously.  
“Yup,” he said. “See, I’m a good friend, so I brought you coffee because I remembered how you are in the morning.”  
“See, I’m a good friend, so I’m not going to hit you because I forgot how irritating you are in the morning.” I mocked him.

We drove in silence the rest of the way there. When we pulled into the parking lot Will breathed in deeply and got out, looking less confident than before.  
“You okay?” I asked, slightly more awake.  
“Hm?” He asked, not hearing my question. “Oh. Yeah, just a little nervous.”  
“O-kay.” I said, leading the way into the building.  
The second we mixed into the hoard of people walking in, there were gasps and squeals from fellow students.  
“That’s Will Solace!”  
“Ohmygod, it IS Will Solace!”  
“He’s SO hot, and he’s going to OUR school now?!!”  
Will started to walk faster, I guessed out of habit. I had to rush to keep up with him. He quickly made it to the office and rushed inside without me. I huffed out an irritated breath and went to first period, alone. 

I knew lunch was going to be hectic, but I hadn’t expected it to be that hectic.  
Will was standing in the corner of the lunch room panicked, about a dozen people surrounding him and pelting him with questions. He saw me and instantly motioned for me to help.  
Just walking over to him was enough to get the irritating people to part. I apparently have this aura that made people want to get away from me. He gave a silent plea, but there was little time to celebrate, as Drew was sashaying over to us, looking as pretty as ever.  
“Hey Will!” she said, her voice cutting through the air.  
“H-hi.” Will said, slightly confused.  
I nearly burst out laughing. Will didn’t remember who she was.  
Drew slotted her arm through Will’s and flashed a smile at the people that had their cameras out.  
Once they were done taking photos, she lightly hit him on the arm and said, “We so need to catch up!”  
Will watched her as she walked away, still dazed and confused.  
“W-Who was that?” he asked.  
I snorted and he looked at me weirdly. “What?” he asked.  
“That’s Drew… Drew Tanaka? She’s obsessed with you.”  
Will thought for a moment before realization came to his face and he blushed. “I… I feel bad that I didn’t recognize her.” He said.  
“Don’t be. She terrorized me for months after you left, asking me where you went. It was irritating.”  
We sat down at a table in the corner of the room. Thankfully, people were leaving us alone now.  
Will moved his chair closer to mine so we could talk, and I felt my stomach flip a little.  
“Sorry for leaving you this morning… I thought you were right behind me.” He said with a genuine look on his face.  
Any negative feelings towards him about this morning melted away.  
“’S fine.” I said shyly, trying not to drown in his deep blue eyes.  
He smiled warmly, “What’re your classes?”  
I handed him my schedule and he looked it over for a few moments.  
“I guess we’re only going have lunch and orchestra together.”  
“Hmm.” I said.  
He handed me the paper back and sat in silence.  
I focused on my food until there was the sound of a chair scraping on the floor.  
I looked up and had to hide my scowl.  
Nick, the current captain of the soccor team, sat across the table from Will. Some of his idiot friends were standing behind him, looking as dumb as ever. He had turned his chair around so he could lean on the back, like all the jocks in movies did.  
“Will,” he said, not seeming to want to acknowledge me. “When were you going to tell me you were coming back?”  
Will shifted a little anxiously. “I didn’t think I needed to tell you.”  
Nick gave one of those grins that assholes do. “You’re one of the best players on my team, I want to keep up with you!”  
He said ‘my team’ like he was the best player in the state, even though the only reason he was the captain was because Will left.  
Nick glanced at me and gave a single laugh. “Why don’t you come and sit with us. We can talk about getting you back on the team.”  
Will looked at me and crossed his arms. “I’m going to decline your offer, but thank you.”  
Nick’s thick eyebrows went up, “O-kay.” He shrugged and started to get up. “Oh, yeah. We’re having a party tonight at my place, you’re invited of course.”  
Will looked slightly uncomfortable again.  
“C’mon, all of your friends will be there!”  
I scoffed, Will didn’t like any of them.  
“I’ll go,” Will said to both of our surprise. “But, only if Nico can come too.”  
I looked at Will shocked. Nick laughed loudly and shrugged.  
“Whatever man, just be there.” He said before walking away.  
Will turned in back to me, a guilty look on my face.  
“ _Why?_ ”  
“Sorry,” he said, “But in all fairness, you’ve never been to a party, and I didn’t want to go alone.”  
“You could have just said no!”  
“Yeah, but Nick would probably have made me go anyway.”  
I sighed and crossed my arms. “I hate you sometimes.”  
“No you don’t.” Will said, grinning.  
He was right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohmygod I FINALLY got this chapter up!!! I'm SO sorry for not posting! If you didn't know, I had some issues (still do, actually) with copying and pasting this chapter from Word (though I've done it before). If you're having the same problem, I basically just copied and pasted, then previewed it, and then copied and pasted the parts that were missing (I had to do this a couple of times) Anyway, I'm going to post on Mondays for now. (I might post earlier if I finish a chapter too.) 
> 
> Thank you for all of the nice comments too! It's kind of hard for me to post my work because I'm afraid that they're not good enough, but I do enjoy writing now because it's actually for something now. :)


	3. Now Or Never

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: This chapter has some homophobia/bullying and some cussing.

We left lunch and headed to Orchestra. I still couldn’t believe that Will was making me go to Nick’s party. He didn’t even like Nick, so why did I have to try to be around him too?   
Will looked a little nervous about it too. He looked like he was deep in thought as we entered the classroom.  
When we entered, party poppers were popped and there was applause. A banner was hung on the wall that said, WELCOME BACK WILL!  
Miss Muse was cheering and applauding as she beamed and walked over to him. Someone from the yearbook took way too many pictures of everything.  
Will looked pretty much mortified. He’d always hated being the center of attention. Ironic, considering he wanted to be a musician and singer.  
“Miss Muse… T-thank you.” Will said, trying to be polite when the noise ceased.  
“Oh, you’re welcome Will!” she grinned. “Anything for my star student!”  
I rolled my eyes. She was always very… extra… when it came to him. I could see why she was so interested in keeping up with him though. He was one of the very few people in this town that actually had any talent that they could use to be successful.  
The ‘celebration’ ended very quickly, and everyone went back to their normal routine before class.   
“That was embarrassing.” A red-faced Will said behind me.  
“It was kind of hilarious to watch though.” I mocked.  
He got out his cello and sat in a nearby chair.  
“So, what song have you picked for your solo, soon to be duet?” he asked, tuning.  
I got out my violin and plucked the strings to some random melody, “I was just planning on playing a part from ‘Four Seasons’.”  
“By Vivaldi?” Will asked.  
I rolled my eyes, “Duh.”  
“Which one?”   
“I don’t know, I haven’t decided yet.”  
Will pulled out his phone and smiled. “Well then let’s decide.”  
He played ‘Spring’.  
“That one’s too… Happy.”  
“And that’s a bad thing?” he asked.  
I shrugged. “Well, everyone knows it too.”  
“That’s true.”  
‘Summer’ played.  
“This one’s too slow at the start, but I do like the middle part.”   
“Yeah.” Will nodded.  
‘Autumn’ came on.  
“Not this one.” I wrinkled my nose.  
“Still too happy for your taste?” Will grinned.  
“Yes.”  
‘Winter’ was last.  
“This one.” Both Will and I said at the same time.  
I blushed and Will smiled.  
“Then it’s settled; we’ll do this one.”

I waited at Will’s car after school. Will told me that he had to pick up some extra credit from his teachers to catch up on the lessons that he had missed while he was away.  
It had been almost twenty minutes before Will showed up.  
“Sorry!” he said, out of breath. “I ran down here as fast as I could.”  
“Why on earth did you run?” I asked, frowning.  
“I didn’t want to keep you waiting.” Will grinned.  
“Y-you didn’t have to run though. What kind of friend am I if I make you run for me?” I joked.  
Will hopped into his truck and I followed.  
“So, I was thinking,” He said. “You should come over so we can get ready for the party.”  
I groaned. “You were serious about that?”  
“Uh huh.”  
“Ugh. Fine.”

We pulled up to the apartment and I hopped out.  
“I’ll be here at seven, okay?”  
“’Kay.” I said.  
I fumbled with the keys and opened the door.  
Bianca was standing in the kitchen, cooking.  
“ _Ciao fratello_.” She said in Italian.  
Bianca liked to talk in Italian sometimes. She had learned it a little bit better than I had when we lived in Italy because she was older. Luckily, she never started in the morning because she knew I was usually half-conscious that early.  
“ _Ciao_ Bianca.”   
“How was your day?”  
“ _Va bene_.” I said, throwing my backpack on the couch. “I’m going to a party at seven.”  
Bianca turned and glared at me. “I’m making dinner, _idiota_! You should have called me before I started!”  
I groaned. “I’m sorry, but it’s not like I want to go either.”  
“Then why are you going _stupido_?” she asked crossly.  
“Because Will wants me to go with him.”  
She turned and cocked her eyebrow, “You’re going with _ragazzo del sole_?”  
“Yes, that’s what I just said. Why?”  
She shrugged and gave a sly grin. “ _Niente_ , just, have fun I guess.”  
“Oh, so now you’re okay with it?” I asked, frustrated.  
“I trust Will.” She said simply.  
“But you don’t trust me?!”   
“Nope.”  
I scoffed, “Fine. I’ll be in my room until Will gets here.”  
“’Kay.”

Will texted me that he was on his way and I panicked; I had nothing to wear.  
I settled on a pair of black skinny jeans and a short sleeved, dark navy button up that I had found in the back of my closet. The only shoes I had were my slightly dirty combat boots.   
I looked in the mirror and sighed, I looked like I was trying too hard.   
I ran my fingers through my messy, fluffy hair and pushed it back off of my forehead a little.  
Will honked his horn from the driveway.  
“ _È qui_ , Nico!” Bianca called.  
“ _Sto arrivando_.” I called back.  
Will was still in his t-shirt and shorts from earlier.  
As I buckled up the seatbelt, I almost thought I saw him staring at me.  
I looked at him and he quickly turned his eyes to the road. There was a little pink on his freckled cheeks.  
“You’ve changed clothes.” He pointed out.  
“You haven’t.” I said. My face heated, “A-are you not supposed to get dressed up for these kind of things?”   
Will smiled, “You don’t have to.”  
I felt my anxiety creeping up on me.  
“Hey,” Will placed his hand on my arm. “Y-you look g-good.”  
I looked into his sparkly blue eyes and felt a little calmer.  
He pulled up into his driveway and turned off his truck.  
We got out of the truck and walked into his house.  
I had forgotten how cozy Will’s house was. The inside was very southern and homey. Will’s mom, Naomi, was the embodiment of comfort and the south, so naturally her house would be the same.  
“We’re back mom!” Will called.  
“H-how is your mom?” I asked, following Will to his room.  
“She’s doing a little better now.” He said. His expression told me that he didn’t want to say anything else about it. He had probably been asked a thousand questions about it already.  
Will’s room is the exact oppasite of mine. He has a window that faces to the sun most of the day, so sunlight is always shining in. His bed spread was a bright orange and three of his walls were a light blue, the fourth was a pale yellow.  
The first time I had been in his room I had told him that his room looked like it had belonged to a child. Nothing had really changed.  
I automaticly went over and sat on Will’s bed. He walked over to his closet and started searching through his clothes.  
“Y-you don’t have to change just because I did.” I said, picking at my shoelaces.  
“Well, I need all the help I can get standing next to you looking like that.” He joked. His face reddend as he realized what he had said.  
I felt heat creeping on my face as well, and I started messing with my hair again.   
He settled with a pair of faded jeans and a burnt-orange v-neck t-shirt. He kicked on his falling apart flip-flops and turned back to me.  
“Is this good enough?” he asked with a sigh.  
I nodded, “I just wish I wasn’t so dressed up.” I muttered.  
Will thought for a moment before he walked over to me.   
“Here,” he said as he unbuttoned the top button of my shirt.  
He looked up at me, quite close, and grinned.  
“T-thanks.” I said, trying to look anywhere but him.  
“Are you ready to go?” he asked, moving over to his bedside table to grab his phone.  
“I guess.” 

Nick’s house was pretty much a mansion. There were already about two dozen people there, and I had a feeling there was going to be more.  
Will found a space to park his truck on the street and turned the car off.  
“You okay?” he asked me, seeing my shoulders tense as I looked at the mansion.  
“Who even parties on a Monday anyway?” I grumbled.  
Will laughed, “That’s Nick for you.” He said, glancing at the house. “C’mon, let’s go.”  
We walked in and instantly people began cheering. Nick pushed to the front of the crowd, holding a red solo cup with something in it that I assumed was not soda.  
“Hey, Will! I didn’t think you would come!” he shouted over the music.  
Will shrugged, “I had nothing else to do.”  
Nick grinned, “Well I’m glad you made it.”  
Suddenly his eyes found me, standing slightly behind Will.  
Nick’s grin turned slightly menacing as he looked at me. “Hey Nico, didn’t think you would ever actually be here.”  
I looked at my shoes shyly.   
“Yeah, well, I wanted him to come.” Will said, shifting slightly in front of me more.  
“Riiiiigghhht.” Nick said.   
There was a shout from the living room and Nick sighed.  
“That’s my cue.” He said. “I’ll see you around later.”  
Everyone had seemed to disperse. I looked at Will, waiting for him to do something.  
He turned to me and rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess we can get a drink.”  
“O-okay.” I said.  
He led me to the kitchen, which was bigger than my whole apartment.  
“Will!” a voice called.  
“Aiden, hi.” Will said.  
I was pretty sure Aiden was on the soccer team with Will.  
I tuned out of their conversation and went to get a drink. There was a cooler of beer, a table with a bunch of different types of alcohol, and a couple of bottles of wine on the counter. Other than that, there weren’t any legal drinks there.  
“Punch?” a girl asked behind me.  
I turned around quickly to see a redhead girl holding out a solo cup to me.  
“Uh… sure?”   
I took the cup and drank a little. It tasted pretty good, but something in it burned my throat a little. I coughed and saw her giggle before she turned around and started handing out more of the drink.  
Will touched my shoulder and I jumped.  
“Hey, I’ll be right back. I’m just going to the bathroom if you need me.”  
I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to find him even if I needed to.   
Barely a minute after he was gone I felt another hand on my shoulder.  
“Nico!” Nick shouted.  
“H-hi.” I said.   
Up close, I realized how attractive he was. He wasn’t exactly my type, but he was kind of cute.  
“Why don’t you come with me?” he said, giving me a smug grin.  
I wasn’t sure why, but I kind of wanted to go with him. He looked in my solo cup and smiled.  
“That’s good, huh? Why don’t we get you some more?” He handed my cup to the redhead girl and winked.  
I thought I saw her put some other liquid in it but I didn’t really care. I took it back and drank.  
Nick led me upstairs into another living room, away from most of the people and the music. He closed the double doors and I saw that most of the soccer team was there, and Drew Tanaka. She was sitting in the corner of the room wearing a crop top and shorts, her makeup more intense than during the school day. She was also glaring right at me.  
“So, Nico, what’s up?” Nick asked, moving to the center of the room.  
“What do you mean?” I asked, taking a sip of the punch nervously.  
“Nothing, I just want to know what’s up between you and Will.”  
“I don’t understand…” I said.  
“I think you do.” Nick snapped. “See, we know about you, you little faggot, so you should stay away from Will, okay? We need him for our team, and I don’t need you distracting him, freak.”   
I felt bile rise in my throat, “That’s not a nice thing to say.” I mumbled.  
Nick snorted. “I bet you like Will, don’t you?” Nick’s friends laughed. “Like he’d ever like a fag like you. I don’t even know why he hangs around you. You’re like a sad mutt that follows him around, hoping to get attention.”  
I felt tears welling in my eyes.  
“He probably feels bad for you. You’re nothing but a sad orphan. I bet your weird sister doesn’t even like you.”  
“Stop.” I said, but my voice was weak and cracking.  
There was more laughter.  
“Why don’t I call Will up here and tell him how much you like him, huh? We can see what he really thinks about you. Or does he not even know that you’re gay? Maybe we should just tell him that so he can-”   
Will suddenly burst into the room looking _furious_.   
“Nick!” He shouted.  
I saw Drew flinch and try to sneak off into the corner.  
“Hey Will, perfect timing!” Nick said, grinning.  
“What the fuck is going on?!” Will yelled at him.  
“We’re just trying to get to know Nico here.” He motioned to me.  
Will turned to face me and his face instantly softened. I was a sniffling mess and I probably looked pathetic. I tried to hide my face behind my hair.  
“We’ve learned some very interesting things about him, would you like to hear?”  
“Fuck off Nick.” Will growled.  
“Excuse me?” Nick asked, suddenly mad too.  
“I said, _Fuck. Off_.”  
“Oh, this is rich. You’re _really_ going to _defend_ that fag?!”  
Will flinched at his words.  
“Don’t say that.” Will hissed.  
“What, _faggot_?”   
Will snapped and did something completely out of the blue. He punched Nick right in the mouth, his fist colliding into Nick’s face.  
“Holy fuck.” Nick spat out some blood. “That’s it Solace, you’re done. Forget ever being on the team again.” He seethed.  
“Good. I don’t care.”   
Will turned and grabbed my hand, dragging me out of the room. He didn’t stop until we were all the way to the car. I jumped in and he buckled my seatbelt for me.  
“Will I-”  
“Gods Nic. I’m so sorry about that.” He said shamefully.  
I felt tears start to stream down my face again.  
“Will-”  
“Are you okay? Did they hurt you at all?” Will cut in again.   
He grabbed my chin and started checking me for cuts or bruises.  
I looked down and saw his knuckles, they were bleeding.  
“Will, you’re hand. It’s-”  
“What did they say to you? Who all was there? Gods, what if they planned this? I’m going to kill them for doing that to you. Wait, are you drunk?”   
“Will!” I yelled.   
He stopped.   
I took a shaky breath, “I want to go home.”  
“Oh… Right.” He said. He slowly took out his keys from his pocket and drove to my apartment in silence.  
As soon as he pulled up I quickly got out and started for the door.  
“Nico, wait!” He called.   
I didn’t listen.  
“Nico, we need to talk about this!”   
I closed the door.  
“Nico! How was the party? You weren’t there for as long as I thought.” Bianca stopped suddenly and frowned. “Are you drunk?”  
“ _Vaffanculo_.” I growled at her.  
“Nico!” She yelled.  
I ignored her and walked into my room, falling asleep on my bed instantly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, here's a chapter that I finished early.   
> I know that a lot of writers have Nico speaking Italian, but I like it, and I know that some of my bilingual friends speak to their family in the first language they learned. (I got these from google translate, so they're probably not accurate.) 
> 
> Also, here's the link to the Four Season's songs, in case you didn't know what I was talking about.  
> https://youtu.be/GRxofEmo3HA


	4. Guess I'm A Bad Liar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of the translations are from google translate, so they might not be 100% accurate, sorry

“Nico di’Angelo, _se non si sveglia adesso, ti darò un buon motivo per non farlo_!” Bianca screamed by my ear.  
“ _Vaffanculo_.” I muttered back.  
“If you tell me to ‘fuck off’ one more time, I’m going to lose it.”  
“Or you could just leave me alone.”  
I rolled over on my back and winced. The lights were making my head throb.  
Bianca saw me wince and huffed out an irritated breath. “ _Qui_.” She shoved a bottle of water in my hand.  
“I don’t need it.”  
“You’re hungover.”  
“No, I’m not.”  
Bianca sighed, “Will called me and explained. I’m not necessarily mad at you, I just…” she giggled. “I just never thought you’d be a lightweight.”  
I rolled my eyes. “Really Bianca?”  
She shrugged.  
I chugged the bottle of water.  
“You need to get ready to go to school.” She said, ruffling my hair.  
I frowned, “Can’t I just stay home?”  
She thought, “I guess you could, but you’ll owe me.”  
“Owe you?”  
“Yeah, if I have to make up an excuse to get you out of school, then you’ll have to make up an excuse for me to get out of work.”  
I laughed. “You’re the most responsible adult I know.”  
“Hey, I wanna watch movies all day too.”

We were in the middle of Hercules (the Disney movie), eating pizza and singing along to the songs, like usual, before she asked.  
“What happened at the party, Nico?”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Will said you were… Distressed.”  
I shrugged, but my face darkened.  
“Nico?” She asked, adding her sisterly charm to it.  
“I don’t want to talk about it.”  
“Nico, holding it in never helps. You know that.”  
I sighed. “Why does it matter to you?”  
“Because I worry about you! Why is that so wrong?”  
I let out a shaky breath. “Nick, the captain of Will’s soccer team, he… he called me a… a fag.”  
“Oh, Nico.” She breathed. “Why did he single you out?”  
I closed my eyes and felt tears coming. “He… told me to s-stay away from Will.”  
She thought for a moment. “Why would he-”  
Realization came to her face and I felt my face heat up.  
“Oh, Nico!” she squealed unexpectedly. “You should tell him!”  
“What?! No, I-I dont!” I stuttered.  
She turned to me and looked me straight in the eyes. “Nic, do you like, really like him?”  
“I… I like him as a friend, that’s it.”  
Her eyes narrowed, “You’re a bad liar.”  
“I don’t like him Bianca.”  
“Have you ever gotten the butterflies around him?”  
“What? No…”  
“So, yes.”  
“Bianca.” I said sternly.  
She looked at me with a giddy expression.  
“I don’t even know if I like him like that yet.”  
“But it’s not completely impossible.”  
I looked away from her and shrugged, earning another squeal.  
“ _Sarai una coppia molto carina_!”  
I groaned.  
Suddenly, there was a buzzing from the door.  
“Doorbell.” Bianca said, although she was sitting right next to me.  
“I’m right here. I know.” I sighed, getting up to open it.  
She had a mischievous look on her face.  
I opened the door and a shaggy-haired, blushing Will was standing there .  
“Will?” I asked.  
“Hey Neeks. I was uhh… I just uh, wanted to check on you.” He said, flustered.  
I glanced back at Bianca. She was peeking over the back of the couch at us. I glared at her and she winked. Of course, she had asked Will to come over after school.  
I shifted uncomfortably. “O-okay…”  
There was a pause and I awkwardly messed with my hair.  
“ _Basta già baciare_!” Bianca hissed.  
My face heated up even more. I knew Will didn’t know Italian, but I couldn’t believe Bianca would say something like that in front of him.  
“ _Sta 'zitto_!” I hissed.  
Will’s eyes darted back and forth between us, trying to translate. He gave me a confused look.  
“S-sorry.” I muttered.  
“H-how are you? I noticed you weren’t at school and I got a little worried.”  
“I’m okay. Just a little hungover I think.”  
“Yeah.” He sighed.  
There was another pause.  
“ _Diglielo_.” Bianca whispered.  
“ _Smettila_.”  
Will looked confused again and I gave him a sympathetic look.  
“Nico, I’m sorry that Nick did that to you.” He said, his expression growing soft.  
“He didn’t do anything.” I mumbled.  
“Nico, he did do something. He said some awful things to you, but I don’t know what because you won’t tell me.”  
“You don’t need to know.” I said, suddenly getting defensive.  
“Well, I know it involves me, because Nick said it did. I have the right to know.”  
“It doesn’t involve you, so stay out of it.” I snapped.  
“Nico, why won’t you just tell me?!” Will snapped back.  
“Because I don’t want you to know that I’m-” I caught myself.  
“You don’t want me to know what?” Will asked.  
“Get out.” I whispered.  
“Neeks, Angel, you can tell me anything.”  
“Get out. _Adesso_.”  
“Neeks,” he started.  
I pushed his chest, hard, and he stumbled backwards out the door. I slammed it shut as tears streamed down my cheeks.  
“ _Fratello, che c'è di sbagliato_?” Bianca asked, suddenly by my side.  
“I don’t want him to hate me.” I sobbed.  
“Nico, why would you think that?” she asked, putting her hand on my shoulder.  
I didn’t answer. There were so many reasons why I thought Will would hate me if I came out to him. The problem was, I beleived everything that Nick had told me. I was always afraid that Will would find out and he would hate me and think I was a freak. Hazel and Bianca were the only people that knew. I knew they would always be there for me, but I didn’t want them, I wanted Will. I didn’t even know if I loved, no, _liked_ Will, I just knew I never wanted him to hate me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyyyyyyyyyyy I have no social life or anything else to do, so I finished another chapter. I think this one's a little shorter though.  
> Also, I love the idea that Bianca would have totally shipped Will and Nico.


	5. Why Try?

I locked myself in my room for the rest of the evening. Around dinner time, I heard Bianca knock at my door.  
“ _Per favore mangia._ ” She asked softly.  
“No.” I said.  
She sighed and placed a plate of food on the floor anyway.  
Even if I did feel like eating, I didn’t want to get up to get the plate.  
A few minutes later, my phone buzzed with a text from Will.  
_Please talk to me._  
I threw it at the end of my bed and ignored him.  
It buzzed again, so I glanced at his message.  
_At least come back to school tomorrow._  
I didn’t reply again.  
_We have to practice or we have no chance at Competition._  
I let out a frustrated sigh and turned my phone off.

When I woke up in the morning, Bianca was softly knocking on my door again.  
“Nico, please get up.”  
I looked at my alarm clock. It was earlier than I usually got up, and I wondered why she was waking me up at this ungodly hour.  
“Will’s here to take you to breakfast.” She explained through the door as if she had read my thoughts. She lowered her voice, “I told him not to bother you but he insisted.”  
I groaned. Now Will was making house calls?  
I reluctantly got out of bed and opened my door.  
Bianca was already dressed for work. Will was standing in the living room next to our tattered couch. He looked like he didn’t sleep well, which was odd for him because he was always bright and ready in the morning.  
He turned to me and gave a small smile that I didn’t return.  
“C’mon Neeks.” He motioned to the door with his head.  
I crossed my arms and looked at Bianca, silently pleading that she’d send him away.  
Instead, she fidgeted with her braided hair and looked at her feet and said, “I think you should go with him to school.”  
I rolled my eyes and scoffed, “You’re impossible.”  
“Nico.” She tried to scold, but it came out not that threatening.  
“Nic, I’m buying at D’s.” Will coaxed.  
I sighed and my stomach growled a little. As much as I didn’t want to, I hadn’t eaten last night either, so I figured if I had to eat, it wouldn’t be all that bad if someone else payed for it.  
“Fine.” I growled.  
Will grinned. I wanted to flip him off but I knew Bianca would yell at me, so I went back into my room and changed into fresh clothes.  
I grabbed my bag and headed for the door. I quickly walked out to Will’s car, leaving Will to trail behind me and catch up. He tried to close my door for me but I quickly slammed it shut.  
Will, being ever so patient, smirked a little as he walked over to his side of the car.  
He drove us in silence to D’s Diner. When we sat at our usual booth, I noticed him looking at me with the same smirk still.  
“What?” I asked, getting slightly irritated at how cheerful he was.  
Just yesterday I had kicked him out of my apartment, and now here he was acting like that had never happened.  
“Nothing.” He said, still smirking as he took a sip of his water.  
“What?” I asked again, a little more forceful.  
“What do you mean ‘what’?” he feigned innocence.  
“Why’re you so cheerful today?” I said annoyed.  
“Can’t I just be happy to be here with you?” He laughed.  
“You have this look about you though.”  
“A look?”  
“Yes, a look.”  
“What is this ‘look’?” He rested his chin on his hand and gave me a dreamy look.  
“Irritating.” I said giving him a half-hearted glare.  
Our waitress came over and gave us menus.  
“How can I help you boys?” she asked with a thick southern-bell accent.  
She looked no more than twenty. Her auburn hair was pulled back into a messy bun and I could tell she had makeup on. She looked at Will and blushed.  
_Oh boy_. I thought glumly to myself. Of course she thought Will was cute.  
Will gave a warm smile, like he always did to everyone. She blushed again and fanned herself with her hand dramaticly and gave an airy giggle. I knew that it was one of Will’s polite southern habits to smile at people, but towards a pretty girl like her, and with her reaction, I felt like I was going to be sick.  
“My names Addie.” She said, fully ignoring me now to focus on Will.  
“Hi, I’m Will.” He said politely.  
“I know.” She smiled again before blushing, _again_. “Oh, that sounded off! I mean, I’ve heard your music. I’m a big fan!” She dramaticly fanned herself again.  
“Oh, thank you.” He said. I almost thought he looked embarrased and slightly uncomfortable. “Um, can we uh... Order now please?”  
“Oh my! Yes! I’m so sorry!” she said franticly. “What would you like?”  
“Uh, you go first Nic.”  
Addie the waitress looked confused before she turned and noticed me probably for the first time. Her warmness seemed to fade as she looked me over. She was probably wondering why some pale, slightly goth kid was sitting across from a superstar.  
“French toast, please.” I mumbled unhappily.  
She barely even nodded or wrote anything down on the small notepad she had produced from her apron before she turned back to Will.  
“And for you Sugar?” Her accent seemed to get more and more irritating every time she spoke.  
“The egg and bacon scrambler with turkey bacon and a side of fruit please.”  
“My pleasure.”  
As she walked away, she swung her hips more than normally. I rolled my eyes and scoffed.  
“What are you scoffing at now?” Will asked, noticing my annoyance.  
“Addie the waitress. She’s a _big fan_.” I said, mocking her accent.  
Will laughed loudly, maybe louder than he should have.  
“Yeah...” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.  
“I think she’s looking for more than just to bring you food.”  
“What do you mean?” he asked, confused.  
“It’s obvious she was into you.” I said, messing with my napkin in my lap.  
“Really?” Will asked. His cheeks turned a little rosey.  
“Duh.” I said. Something in my heart hurt at his reaction.  
“I don’t know… She’s not really my _‘type_ ’.” I glanced up at him quickly to see his big blue eyes staring at me. The corners of his mouth turned up a little as I blushed looking at him.  
“T-then what is your _‘type_ ’.” I asked, looking down again.  
He opened his mouth to speak but was cut off as Addie the annoying waitress leaned down in front of him to serve us our food.  
The leaning wasn’t necessary, but she did it anyway, trying to show off her cleavage in her traditional, outdated diner uniform that she had slightly unbuttoned.  
Will had to quickly lean back to avoid getting a face full of it.  
Addie saw him and giggled her girly laugh. “Oops, sorry.” She said innocently.  
Will looked almost mortified.  
“Need anything else?” She asked pleasantly.  
“No.” I snapped.  
Her brown eyes flickered to me and challenged me. I glared back a little.  
“Fine.” She said, less cheery than before.  
I started eating in silence. I realized Will hadn’t answered my question, but I also knew that I probably wouldn’t like the answer. He probably liked girls with long flowy locks of golden hair and honey skin with nice curves and a pretty voice whose laughter sounded like a song.  
Just imagining him with that made-up girl in my head made my stomach churn, but I kept eating. Then again, if Will was happy with her, then I’d just have to deal with it.  
After we finished eating in silence, Addie came and gave us the check. Will pulled out his card and she left.  
“We’re almost late for school.” I pointed out quietly.  
“It’ll be fine.” Will assured.  
Addie came back with the check. “It’ll be on the house next time, so come back soon, okay doll?” She winked at him.  
Will barely smiled and she strutted away. He wrote something down on the check. It was hard to read upside down but I made out his slightly messy handwriting.  
_Maybe you should focus on being a good waitress instead of flirting next time_.  
I held in my laughter the best I could. She was going to be shocked when she read that.  
Will scooted out of the booth and quickly walked out with me right behind him.  
We hopped in his truck and I hit his arm playfully.  
“Ow! What?” he laughed.  
“That was mean! You’re never mean!” I said almost shocked.  
“She was being rude to you though.” He said shyly.  
“Still!” I said.  
“Okay, okay. Just don’t tell my mom I did that. She’d probably ground me for being such a jerk.” He laughed again.  
“You _are_ a jerk. I didn’t know you had it in you!”  
“Shut up.” He said half-heartedly.  
He pulled into the school parking lot.  
“I guess I’ll see you at lunch.” He said.  
“Yeah.”  
We got out and walked into the building.

Lunch seemed to come very slowly. When the bell finally rang I almost wanted to sprint down the hall. I found Will sitting at our same table and I rushed over.  
“Hey, I was thinking we could go to the music room and practice for ensembles.” He said as soon as he saw me.  
“Yeah, okay.” I shrugged.

I pinned back my shaggy fringe so I could see better and caught Will glancing at me.  
“Ready?” he asked, his voice wavering a little as he sat up a little.  
“Yeah.” I said, placing my violin on my shoulder.  
The first part that we were playing was the most difficult part in the piece. It was only about three minutes long, but it felt like an eternity to actually play it.  
“ _Merda_!” I muttered as the first fast part came and I messed up.  
I kept messing up and missing cues. Eventually I tore my violin from my shoulder and stood up to kick _something._  
“ _Fanculo_!” I hissed as my shoe met the concrete of the wall.  
“Hey, Neeks, calm down.” Will placed his hand on my back and I froze, my face heating a little. “It’s only the first practice we’ve done.”  
“It’s near impossible though!”  
“We’ll have plenty of time to perfect it, okay?” he assured me.  
His hand was still on my back and I could feel the warmth of his body because he was standing so close.  
“All we can do is practice.” He said quietly.  
I nodded.  
“Then let’s practice.” I said sharply as I pulled away from him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I didn't post on Monday... I think I've missed two now?? But last Monday our wifi went out and now I'm technically "on vacation", though we're just at our apartment a little bit away from our house and we've been on the lake a lot so I've had no time... I also posted a few chapters early earlier so you know... Anyway, I tried to make this chapter a little longer (I don't know if it actually is though).
> 
> Also, the romance IS coming. I have a really good idea for it it just may take a FEW more chapters.


	6. The State of Dreaming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) I'm sorry okay.

_One month_. One month was all we had until competition. My stress levels were higher than they had been in a while. _Why had we chosen such a complicated song to play_?!  
Today was our fifth practice and we had only gotten slightly better. I leaned against the padded wall in a practice room groaning and dramatically hitting my head against the wall.  
“Neeks, you’ll give yourself a concussion if you keep doing that.” Will sighed.  
“I don’t care.” I mumbled.  
He sighed and checked the clock on his phone. “School ended almost two hours ago and you’ve been complaining for one of those hours. The point of practicing is to, you know, practice.”  
“Shut up.” I said half-heartedly.  
“Let’s go to D’s.” Will suggested.  
“No.”  
“Why not?”  
“We have to practice.”  
“Then let’s practice!”  
“I don’t want to.”  
“Nico, you’re impossible.” Will sighed with his face in his hands.  
I opened my eyes and looked at him. He was picking at one of the threads on his ripped jeans. I liked those jeans on him.  
“Fine.” I said softly.  
“Hmm?” He asked, still distracted by the thread.  
“Let’s go to D’s.”  
He smiled and I had to look away so I didn’t blush.  
We packed up and left to go to D’s. It was already almost six o’clock by the time we got there.  
“You should tell Bianca that you’ll be late.” Will pointed out as he sat down.  
I shrugged, “She’s probably not home either. She’s had to work late recently.”  
“Oh, okay.”  
I glanced around and saw a very pissed off looking, auburn-haired waitress muttering to her other waitress friends.  
“What?” Will asked curiously.  
“Addie, the waitress from the other day, seems pissed at you.” I said, nodding in her direction.  
“Oh.” Will said, slumping down a little embarrassed.  
Mr. D walked over, a slight grin on his face. “Well, you’ve pissed off some of my staff. Care to explain?”  
“Will was an asshole to that one girl, Addie.” I said, grinning.  
“Nico.” Will hissed at me, wide eyed.  
“You were an asshole to somebody?” Mr. D turned to Will, suddenly serious.  
“Y-yes sir!” Will squeaked.  
Mr. D erupted into laughter. “Didn’t think you had it in you!”  
Will flinched at his booming laugh. It was almost funny how fidgety and nervous he was around Mr. D. Will laughed a little out of relief.  
“Well, you sure did it this time Solace. They refuse to serve you.”  
“Oh…” Will said. He blushed with embarrassment.  
“Anyway, what can I get you?”  
“The usual.” I said.  
“You got it.” He said, walking off.  
I looked back at Will. He looked really cute when he was flustered.  
“I feel bad. Maybe I should apologize.” He said quietly.  
“Don’t. You need to be more assertive anyway.” I said, slightly giggling.  
He raised an eyebrow at me. “ _I_ need to be more assertive?”  
“Oh, shut up.” I said, waving him off.  
He grinned. Mr. D brought us our food and we dug in.

Will drove me home and said goodbye. Bianca had already gone to bed. I felt bad, she had been overworking herself lately for some reason. She always got up early to leave and sometimes came home late too.  
I took a shower and went to sleep.

The next morning, Will picked me up early to practice.  
Will and I were in one of the practice rooms, practicing ‘Winter’, and I glanced up at Will for a second. His eyes were trained on me, and his pupils were really big. He smiled at me, but it was a different smile than his usual ones. The corners of my mouth twitched as he messed up one of the notes. Suddenly, he stopped. I barely had time to process before he grabbed my violin from my hand and pinned me against the wall. His face was barely an inch from mine.  
“Something funny?” he asked, his voice oddly deeper than normal.  
“W-What?” I asked, my voice cracking.  
He pressed his body closer to mine and I found it difficult to breathe, not because he was suffocating me, but because I was slightly panicking. Up close, I could see the thin blue ring of his iris.  
“Will wha-”  
He cut me off by crushing his mouth against mine. I gasped, but didn’t push away. _Ohmygod, is this actually happening_?! I thought frantically.  
His lips moved against mine expertly and all I could think was, _where did he learn to kiss like this_? I tried to match the best I could but my inexperience obviously showed. His tongue met mine and I let out an embarrassing moan.  
He shifted his hips and his hard… _ohmygod_ I thought as he moved against me.  
“Fuck. Shit. Holy. Fuck. Ahhh.” I gasped as he started to kiss my neck, still rocking his hips with mine.  
I felt my stomach tighten and I knew I was getting close.  
Our breathy moans mixed together.  
Everything seemed to get warmer and simultaneously colder somehow.  
Then suddenly, I heard an annoying sound. Like ringing almost.  
I opened my eyes and it only got louder. Will was still going, unphased by the sound.  
“Will-” His name came out as a moan instead.  
“Nic.” He moaned back.  
Now, there was a loud knocking somewhere in the distance.  
“Nico! Get up, I’m going to be late!” Bianca called through my door.  
I woke suddenly with a gasp. I was face down on my mattress. I moved slightly and groaned, there was something… sticky on me. My dream came rushing back to me and I wanted to scream. You can’t have a wet dream about your best friend!  
Bianca started knocking again.  
“I’m coming!” I yelled, then cringed at my choice of words.  
“Okay, see you later!” she yelled.  
I quickly changed and took off my bed sheets. I ate a quick bowl of cereal before I nearly jumped out of my skin as the doorbell rang.  
“ _Dannazione_.” I hissed. I forgot Will was picking me up again.  
I placed my bowl in the sink and opened the door.  
Seeing Will made me remember my dream again. I gulped and tried to look away.  
“Hey,” He said happily. “Ready to go?”  
His voice wasn’t as deep as in my dream, but it didn’t seem to matter.  
“Y-yeah.” My voice cracked and I internally kicked myself.  
I grabbed my bag and followed him to his car.  
“We should go practice since it’s a we’re a little early.” He said.  
It took me a moment to process what he had said. “Oh… Sure.” I said, slightly dazed, trying to distract myself.  
We unpacked and went into the practice room. I tried not to think about the fact that this was the same room that we had… No, I couldn’t think about that right now.  
He suggested a place to start and I nodded absently.  
We started, and I was thankful for the temporary distraction the music provided me.  
However, when we got to a part that I had to shift up the string, I did it too quickly and I sliced my finger.  
“Ah.” I hissed, stopping.  
Blood started dripping from the pad of my finger.  
Will noticed and was immediately at my side, concerned.  
“What’s wrong?” he asked, furrowing his brows.  
“I cut my finger on the string.” I said, wincing as I pressed the cut a little. Even more blood came out and I started to feel sick to my stomach. I’ve always hated the sight of blood.  
“Let me see.” Will said, gently taking my hand and inspecting it.  
I blushed. He was really close to me again.  
He suddenly brought my finger up to his lips and sucked the blood away.  
My breath caught in my chest.  
“I’ll be right back.” He said softly.  
I stood there, shocked. _Did that just happen_? I thought.  
Will came back a second later with a band-aid. He unwrapped it and carefully wrapped it on my finger.  
When he was done, he looked back up at me.  
“What?” he said, suddenly shy.  
I realized I was staring at him. “S-sorry.” I said awkwardly. “W-where’d you learn that?” I asked.  
He blushed and took a step back. “I uh, I think I read it somewhere?” he said unsurely.  
I was pretty sure no medical professional had ever recommended that before, but I shrugged it off.  
“We should… We should start practicing again.” He stuttered.  
I nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was literally about to post this chapter a couple of days ago when my laptop suddenly died and then I got lazy and forgot about it.... I'm sorry... 
> 
>  
> 
> By the way, when I say I got lazy, I mean I discovered that Anthony Padilla had his own youtube channel and I ended up literally watching almost every Smosh video ever because.... well, have you seen him? 
> 
>  
> 
> Also, you get to see just how much I don't know about gay smut :D. (Yikes.)


	7. Cave In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico is a good little brother.

The rest of the day I _really_ had a tough time focusing. First my… dream, then Will doing that… that thing with his mouth. Oh god, even I knew that sounded awful in my head.  
At lunch we practiced some more, and then even more during class, yet I still could barely play the damn piece.   
Will brought me home afterwards and surprisingly, Bianca was already there.  
“ _Fratello, ho buone notizie_!” She squealed as I closed the door behind me.  
“What?”   
She shoved a peice of paper in my face and I had to back up to read it.  
“You’re going to take college classes?” I asked, feeling excitement for her rising.  
“Yeah! A couple of nights every week I get to go to the highschool to take college classes and get credits!” She squealed some more and I smiled. “I’m gonna be able to get my Bachelor’s degree!”  
I hugged her and we jumped around for a while. When we stopped I was out of breath.   
“Wait, how are you going to pay for this?” I asked curiously. Bianca tended to get overexcited about things without considering the fact that we barely had enough money as it is.  
She thought for a second, “I’ve taken a few extra shifts, so maybe in a few months I’ll be able to pay it off.”  
“ _Maybe_ you’ll be able to pay it off?” I sighed. “Bianca how much does this actually cost?”  
“A bit.” She said sheepishly.  
I groaned and started pacing. “Maybe I can get a job too.” I thought aloud.  
“Nico, you have enough on your plate as it is.”   
“Yeah, but we have to think of _something_.”  
I thought some more.  
“Sell my car.” I suggested.   
“Oh, Nico, no!” Bianca gasped. “It took you so long to get that car!”  
She was right. It took me a little over two years to save up for that beaten up Jeep.  
“I don’t need it. Will takes me to school and back anyway.”   
“Nico.” She huffed.   
“Just take it.” I said. I reached in my bag, took out the keys, and gave them to her. “Here.”  
“No.” She said defiantly.  
“Bianca.” I groaned.   
“No, I’m going to take care of this myself, okay? I’ll figure something out.”  
She hugged me and kissed my cheek. “Thank you though.”   
She walked into her room for bed.   
I pulled out my phone as soon as she closed her door.  
 _Will, I need your help for something tomorrow_.  
I texted.

“So, are you going to tell me what we’re doing this afternoon?” Will asked me as soon as he saw me.  
“Be patient.” I said simply with a grin. That was not one of Will’s strengths.  
He sighed and gave me a half-hearted glare.   
“Okay, then is there a specific reason why you drove your car here today instead of letting me drive you?”  
“Yes, Will, there is. But that is also part of what we’re doing this afternoon, so I can’t tell you that either.”  
He sighed again and started eating his sandwich.  
“How’s your finger?” He asked suddenly.  
“Hmm?” I asked, slightly confused. “Oh, that. It’s a little sore, but other than that okay.”   
I blushed, remembering that whole scene that went down yesterday.  
We were silent for a few minutes.   
“Bianca’s taking college classes now. She’s going to try to get a degree.” I said, trying to break through the silence.  
“Really? Oh my gosh, that’s awesome!” Will gasped. “Tell her congratulations for me, okay.”   
I nodded.  
There was more silence as we ate.   
“Since we can’t practice today after school we should come in early tomorrow too.” Will suggested.  
“Yeah, I guess we should.” I replied.  
The bell rang and we both jumped up.   
I sighed and inwardly kicked myself. Why were things so awkward today? Was it something _I_ had done? Was it because of yesterday? Did I make it awkward by saying something?  
We grabbed our bags and went to the music hall. I silently got out my violin and rushed to our practice room.   
“We should try and play the whole thing through today.” Will suggested as he set up.  
“Okay.” I nodded.  
We played at a slightly slower tempo than normal. It wasn’t the best still, but it also wasn’t the worst.  
As soon as the bell rang, I jumped up and packed.  
“Follow me to this adress.” I told Will in the parking lot.  
“Nico, why’re we going to a-”  
“Please don’t question it. I’ll explain as soon as we get there, okay?”   
He nodded, but still had a curious look on his face.

Looking at cars kind of depressed me. I knew I would probably never have enough money to buy most of them.  
Several creepy looking salesmen came over to us, trying to sell us a car.  
About forty minutes later, we walked out to Will’s car again.  
“Okay, now are you going to tell me why we went to a dealership to sell your car?” Will asked, closing his door.  
I sighed, closing the envelope of money and hoping it was enough.  
“Bianca needs money for her college classes.” I explained.  
“So, you sold your car to get the money for her?”  
“Yup.”  
“She’s going to hate you.”  
“What?” I stuttered. I was expecting a reaction, but not that reaction.   
“I know Bianca, and I know she’d never let you sell your car for her like that.”  
“You don’t know that.” I said defensively.  
“Why’d you have to sell it behind her back then?”  
I glared at him. “Don’t be an ass.”  
He grinned and rolled his eyes.  
“So, when are you going to give the money to her?”  
“I haven’t really thought that through yet.” I said nervously.  
“If you do it tonight, I can be there to protect you from her. She might actually try to kill you.” Will joked.  
“Sure, why not.” I sighed. “She really is going to murder me though.”

Bianca walked through the door and jumped. I usually wasn’t home this early.  
“Nico, you scared me!” she gasped, laughing a little.   
She turned around to see Will leaning against the counter.   
“Will!” she gave him a bone-crushing hug. “It’s so good to see you again! We haven’t gotten to talk in so long!”  
“Yeah, good to see you too.” He said, struggling to breathe.  
She turned to me suddenly. “ _Perché è qui_?” she asked curiously.  
“ _Protezione_.” I said hesitantly.  
She looked even more confused. I nervously handed her the envelope. She stared at it for a second before looking in it.  
“ _Idiota_!” she gasped, placing a hand over her mouth.  
“This should be enough, right?” I asked.  
She nodded, tears starting to stream down her cheeks.  
“ _Stai bene_?” I asked quietly to her. I glanced over at Will, he looked slightly confused.  
Bianca nodded again. She punched me in the arm, then gave me a tight hug.  
“ _Ti odio_.” She whispered into my shoulder.  
“No you don’t.” I snorted.  
“ _Lo non_.” She muttered.  
She stepped away from me, her face a little red from crying.  
“You’re the best brother ever.” She said with a smile. “ _Ti amo_.”  
“ _Ti amo_.” I said back.  
She looked at Will. “Did you have a part in this?” She asked.  
“No, no. It was all Nico’s idea.”   
“He drove me to the dealership and back.” I added in.  
“Then you did help a bit.” She said, going over to hug him.   
“Do you have anywhere to be?” she asked him.  
“I don’t think so?” he said.  
“Good. I’m going to make dinner. You’re joining us.” She decided.  
Will looked up at me and I shrugged, grinning. Even if he _didn’t_ want to stay, he wouldn’t have a choice. Bianca didn’t take no for an answer.  
“Okay.” He said.

 

_  
_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little early chapter since I keep missing Mondays and also because I finished it quickly.
> 
> ALSO: Do you want me to put the translations somewhere? I know some people don't want to have to translate while they're reading so I can do that, just tell me where if you do.


	8. Casual Affair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will stays for dinner.

Bianca and I make really good food. She taught me how to cook when I was only six years old. We had a rule that whenever we had guests over, we both had to cook, so it gets done faster.  
Will sat at the bar in between the kitchen and the living room and watched us make dinner. It felt kind of... comforting... to have him there with us.  
“Are you sure you guys don’t need any help?” he asked politely.  
“No.” Bianca and I said at the same time.  
“I feel bad just watching you guys cook though.”  
“Get over it, Sunshine.” I teased.  
“I don’t see why I can’t help, Angel.” He teased back.  
Bianca nudged me, “ _Angelo_?” She questioned, raising her eyebrow.  
“ _È il mio soprannome_.” I explained.  
She grinned to herself, “ _Se lo dici tu_.”  
“ _Sta 'zitto_.” I muttered.  
Bianca turned back around to Will, “If you really want to help, you can get the pan in the top cabinet above Nico. We usually have to get one of the barstools to get it because we’re both short.”  
I blushed embarrased and Will laughed.  
“Okay.” He said.  
I continued chopping vegetables. I jumped suddenly when Will placed his hand on my waist.  
“You’re gonna need to move for a second, okay?” he whispered into my ear.  
I gulped, trying to look down so he wouldn’t see how red my face was. I nodded and moved out of the way.  
He reached up to grab the pan. His shirt lifted a little and I saw a strip of his sun-kissed skin. I also caught a glimpse of the v-line on his hips. My face got even redder.  
“I’ll be right back.” I squeaked.  
I ran into the bathroom and shut the door quickly. I dashed to the sink and splashed my face with cold water.  
_Fuck, this is not the time for... that_. I thought to myself.  
I waited a few more seconds before going back to the kitchen.  
Bianca was giggling about something Will said. He had taken my place chopping vegetables. I crept back and nudged Will to take my place again.  
“You okay?” he asked, a hint of concern in his voice.  
“Yeah.” I tried to say casually.  
“I can do your job for you if you don’t feel good.” Will said soothingly.  
“I’m fine.” I said.  
He frowned slightly, but stepped away anyway.

Will helped me wash dishes after dinner because Bianca had to go to her classes.  
I tried to keep my focus on the warm, soapy water, not how close Will was next to me.  
We were silent for a while.  
“Thank you.” I said quietly.  
“For what?” He asked, confused.  
“For helping me today.”  
“Oh, that.” He shrugged. “You’re welcome, I guess.”  
There was more silence.  
“Thank you for dinner.” He said.  
“Oh, it’s no big deal.”  
Even more silence.  
“Did I freak you out the other day when I helped you with your finger?” Will suddenly asked quickly.  
“What?” I said, not paying attention.  
“W-when I helped you w-with the cut on your finger. Did I scare you?”  
I glanced over at him to see him looking at me.  
“No.” I said, more hesitant than I wanted.  
“Neeks, be honest.” He said seriously.  
“I am!”  
He narrowed his eyes at me.  
“I just... wasn’t expecting it.” I said.  
He let out a sigh. “Okay... Good. I’m sorry.”  
“It’s fine.” I assured him.  
“D-did I do something?” I asked shyly.  
“What? Nic, no.” His face fell a little with concern. “Why would you think that?”  
“Its just been... a little akward between us recently I guess.”  
“You haven’t done anything Nic.” He said simply.  
“Okay.” I said unsurely.  
We finished washing the dishes. Will grabbed his jacket and started towards the door.  
“I’ve gotta go. My mom probably won’t want me to be out late.” He said.  
“Okay. See you tomorrow.”  
He reached for the door, but paused and turned back to me.  
“Nic, you know you can always talk to me about anything, right?” He asked, biting his lip a little.  
“Yeah, of course.” I said. I wished that were true, but I definitly couldn’t talk about my dream or... fantasies to him.  
“Okay. Good.” He said, then left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm SO sorry for not posting yesterday! My sister's cat got out of the house yesterday and I literally spent the day trying to get her back inside (she's safe now). I know this chapter is a little short, but I just wanted to get something posted.
> 
> Translations:  
> Angelo- Angel  
> È il mio soprannome- It's my nickname  
> Se lo dici tu- If you say so  
> Sta 'zitto- shut up


	9. The Night Is Still Young

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some... interesting stuff happens at Hazel's birthday party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Underage drinking yadayadayada don't drink kids okay

I went to sleep before Bianca got back. Thankfully, I didn’t have any dreams that night, but I did think a lot about dinner with Will. It felt... right to have him there with Bianca and I. Then there was the touching. He seemed to get closer and closer every day. He showed concern, almost more than a friend would.  
I felt bad that he had doubts about me not being honest with him. Then again, he was never one to just openly share deeply personal things either.  
In the morning, I got up and got ready to go to school.  
I checked my phone and saw a text from Will.  
_I never gave my thanks to Bianca for inviting me last night_.  
He was such a gentleman.  
I felt a little more cheery than usual today, so I picked a light teal button up shirt to wear. I probably looked like a goth trying to be pastel, but I wasn’t going to let that bother me too much.  
When Will picked me up, he had a coffee ready for me.  
“I may not be able to cook, but I can bring coffee.” He said as I stepped into his car.  
“It’s really no big deal.” I brushed him off.  
He glanced at me. “Are you wearing an actual color?” he joked.  
“Black is a color.” I said defensively.  
“That’s debatable.” He grinned.

At lunch, Will and I were casually conversing and eating when Hazel skipped over.  
“Hey Haze.” I greeted her.  
“Hi Nico!” she did a double take. “Are you actually wearing a color?!”  
Will snorted and I glared at him.  
“Yes, why is that such a big deal?” I huffed.  
“I never knew you owned bright colors! You should wear them more often, they look good with your skin tone.” She commented.  
I thought I saw Will nod his head out of the corner of my eye.  
“What do you want anyway?” I asked, slightly irritated.  
“Oh c’mon, I complimented you! Why do you have to get all crabby now?”  
“I’m not crabby. I just wish I could do something different without it being a big deal.” I muttered.  
Hazel ruffled my hair, “You’re so cute when you get all frustrated.” She cooed.  
I rolled my eyes.  
“Anyway, as you know, it’s going to be my birthday soon!”  
I felt a rush of guilt come over me. I was terrible at remembering birthdays.  
“I’m throwing a party and I want both of you to come!”  
“You want us to come to your party?” I asked hesitantly. Will and I’s last expirience with a party wasn’t great.  
“Of course.” She chirped.  
I looked at Will and he shrugged.  
“We’ll be there.” He said.  
I nodded.  
Hazel squealed and skipped away happily.  
“So, we’re really going to her party?” I asked.  
“Yeah, why not?” Will asked curiously.  
“Well... She has a lot of other friends for starters, and last time we went to a party... well... things didn’t go well.”  
“I hardly doubt Hazel would be friends with an asshole like Nick.” Will stated.  
“True.” 

~A few days later~

I agreed to let Will take me to Hazel’s party.  
Since she had liked my colorful outfit so much, I decided to wear the same teal button up. Ironically, Will had chosen a dark navy V-neck t-shirt and black shorts.  
“You’re wearing colors again.” He said, leaning against his car and grinning.  
“You’re not.” I pointed out.  
He shrugged. We drove to Hazel’s house, listening to cheesy pop music from the radio.  
Hazel had decorated her living room in colorful streamers and balloons. Will and I had decided to get her a gift together. Will placed the gift on a table next to the others. There was a lot of food and different drinks in the kitchen.  
Hazel was sitting on her big loveseat with her giant of a boyfriend, Frank. I recognized her best friend, Piper, and her boyfriend, Jason, sitting on the floor next to them. Jason had been on the soccer team with Will at some point. I noticed Annabeth sitting in a chair across from them.  
“Nico!” Percy called from behind me.  
I jumped. “Hey Percy.”  
He had two bottles of water in his hand, one presumably for Annabeth.  
“I haven’t seen you in a while.” He said.  
“Yeah, sorry about that.” I said shyly.  
Percy looked at Will quickly. “So, you’re back now too?” he asked, that friendliness in his voice slightly gone.  
I narrowed my eyes a little at him.  
“Y-yes.” Will stuttered, slightly confused.  
Percy turned his attention back to me. “I’m glad you could make it. Leo and Calypso should be here soon. C’mon.” he motioned towards the living room.  
“Look who it is everyone!” he called.  
Everyone’s eyes shot up to me.  
“Nico, you made it!” Hazel squealed, jumping up and running over to me.  
Piper and Jason stood and hugged me too.  
“I’m glad you’re doing better.” Jason said, squeezing my shoulder.  
Piper smiled warmly at me and gave me a hug as well.  
Annabeth smiled at me and waved. I was thankful that I didn’t have to _endure_ another hug.  
Will shifted over to the corner of the room, looking slightly uncomfortable. I felt bad for him. After he left, I became really depressed, and everyone was very hard on Will for doing that to me, even though it wasn’t his fault.  
It seemed as though nobody was willing to forgive him quite yet. Hazel, who I am closest to, seemed to lighten up on him a little, but she still didn’t really like that I was hanging around him again, even though she hadn’t said anything.  
Hazel grabbed my hand and led me over to the floor next to her.  
“Why is everyone ignoring Will?” I whispered to her.  
She sighed, “They’re just being protective over you.”  
“They used to be Will’s friend too!” I hissed.  
“Just give them some time, okay?”  
I sighed in frustration, then motioned for Will to come sit next to me.  
He hesitantly sat down next to me, our thighs touching he was so close. He seemed a little tense.  
“Are you okay?” I asked him quietly.  
He looked at me. I could feel his breath on my face. “I don’t think anyone wants me here.” He said.  
“I want you here.” I said, blushing a little.  
He smiled warmly and let out a breath that he had been holding in.  
“Where’s Leo and Calypso?” Jason asked.  
“He should be here any minute.” Hazel replied.  
We all sat in a slightly uncomfortable silence for a few minutes.  
“So, Will, what’s it like being back?” Hazel asked politely.  
He shrugged, “It’s been nice to catch up again.” He said.  
Jason looked at him intensely, noticing how close he was to me.  
Leo and Calypso suddenly arrived, bringing the party atmosphere with him.  
“Hey!” he called out to everyone, Calypso close behind him.  
“Hi Leo.” Hazel called back.  
Leo’s eyes found me, “ _Muchacho de la Muerte_!”  
“Hi Leo.” I rolled my eyes.  
“Where’ve you been dude?”  
“Busy…”  
“Okay.” He saw Will and grinned a little. “ _Chico Sol_ is here too?!”  
“ _Hola_ Leo.” Will waved.  
I guess Leo wasn’t holding a grudge against Will either.  
“So, are we ready to get this party started?” Leo asked, with his elvish grin.  
“Oh boy, what’ve you got planned?” Jason asked, looking slightly concerned.  
“Nothing, just a little truth or dare maybe?”  
Everyone groaned.  
“Oh, c’mon, it’ll be fun. What do you say, Hazel?”  
“Why not?” she said excitedly.  
We all arranged ourselves into a circle on the floor.  
“So, who’s going first?” Percy asked.  
“Wait just a second,” Leo said. “We have to make this interesting.”  
He revealed a rather large bottle of whiskey from behind his back. Jason and Percy perked up a little.  
“Are you sure we should be drinking?” Annabeth asked cautiously.  
“My parents aren’t here, so yes, we should be.” Hazel said.  
Leo passed the whiskey to Hazel first. “Here you go, birthday girl.”  
She took a sip and winced a little. “Oh, this is strong.” She coughed.  
“Only the best.” Leo winked.  
“Okay, hmm…” she looked around at us. “Frank!”  
He jumped a little.  
“Truth or dare?”  
“Uh, truth?”  
“Of course he picked truth.” Percy laughed.  
“Do you love me?” Hazel asked, batting her eyelashes at him.  
He visibly relaxed a little before blushing a little. “Yeah, of course.”  
“Awww.” Piper and Annabeth cooed.  
Hazel planted a kiss on his cheek before handing the bottle to him.  
“Jason.” He decided. “Truth or dare?”  
“Dare.” He said, his eyes gleaming.  
“I dare you to arm-wrestle me.” He said. “We’ll get to see who’s really the strongest.”  
“Oh you’re on big guy.”  
“Hey, why am I not a part of this?” Percy protested.  
“Because we know Jason would win.” I said with a laugh.  
Percy slumped down a little, “You don’t know that.” He muttered to himself.  
To no one’s surprise, Frank won. Jason sat back down with a look of defeat.  
He took a long gulp from the whiskey and turned to me.  
“Nico, truth or dare?”  
“Truth?” I said hesitantly.  
“Oh c’mon, that’s lame. You’re doing a dare.”  
I sighed.  
“I dare you to try to drink a whole bottle of Sprite in less than a minute and thirty seconds.”  
“What kind of dare is that?” I asked.  
“A kind that I’d like to see you try, shorty.”  
I groaned, but got up and tried it anyway.  
I barely got the thing down in a minute, and by the time I was done, I _really_ had to pee.  
“ _Merda_.” I muttered before making a mad dash to the bathroom.  
“Wait, it’s your turn!” Jason yelled.  
“You do it!”

~Will’s point of view~  
Jason laughed before returning to the circle. He took a second sip of whiskey before unexpectedly turning to me.  
“Will.” He said, his eyes narrowing a little. “Truth or dare?”  
“Truth.” I said nervously.  
“Why do you think it’s okay to be around Nico again after what you did to him?”  
“What?” I asked, taken back by the question.  
“He _did_ tell you that he became depressed after you left, right?”  
“He… he mentioned it.” I said, shifting uncomfortably.  
“He wasn’t just _depressed_ , Will. He wouldn’t eat or leave his apartment or talk to anyone for almost _three months_.”  
“What?”  
“You should have just stayed away from him Will. He doesn’t need you here ruining his progress.” Percy chimed in.  
“I… I never meant to hurt him!” I gasped.  
“Why’d you leave then?” Jason asked.  
“I didn’t want to, but I did it because that’s what I thought I wanted.”  
“Do you still want to be a musician?” Annabeth asked curiously.  
“No… I realized how miserable I was without….” I stopped myself.  
“Without who?” Piper asked.  
“Without Nico.” Hazel finished.  
My face felt like it was on fire. “I hated everyone out there. I hated everyone in the business. I just wanted to come home.” I explained. “I _never_ meant to hurt him.”  
Jason and Percy’s expressions softened a little.  
“Good.” Percy said. “Just don’t do it again.”  
Hazel, Piper and Annabeth all looked at each other for a moment.  
“We’re glad you’re here for him again.” Piper said warmly.  
“We’re glad you’re _here_.” Annabeth added.  
Suddenly, Nico walked back in, sighing in relief.  
“Never ask me to do that again.” He said, sitting back down next to me.  
He noticed my expression and became worried. “What’s wrong?”  
Everyone tried to look normal again.  
“Nothing.” I shrugged. 

~Nico’s point of view~  
When I sat down again I could definitely feel tension in the room. Of course, Will had brushed it off as nothing, so I made a mental note to ask him about it later.  
I looked at him for a second longer before attempting to snatch the bottle of whiskey from Jason’s hand.  
“It’s not your turn anymore!” Jason protested.  
“No fair, I didn’t get a drink!”  
“It’s Will’s turn.” Jason said, carefully handing the bottle to Will.  
I looked at Will and pouted. He smiled at me.  
He took a swig. “Nico, truth or dare?”  
“He just went!” Percy whined. Annabeth hit him lightly on the arm.  
“Dare.” I said.  
“I dare you to drink some whiskey.” He said playfully.  
“Thank you, Sunshine, you’re so kind.” I said.  
I took the bottle from him and took a nice long sip, never breaking eye contact with him.  
He had a slight blush on his face.  
I felt the whiskey burn my throat a little and I coughed.  
“Percy.” I said. “Truth or dare?”  
“Dare, of course.” He said.  
“I dare you to play seven minutes in heaven wiiiittthhh…” I looked around. “Jason.”  
“What?!” Jason and Percy squeaked at the same time.  
I looked at Piper and Annabeth, “You okay with this?”  
They both laughed and nodded.  
“I’m not gay dude.” Percy said flustered.  
“I don’t care.” I said back.  
“Get on with it!” Leo cheered and whistled.  
Percy and Jason hesitantly walked back to one of the gust bedrooms.  
“You know they’re not going to do anything, right?” Piper said, still laughing a little.  
“Oh, I know. I just wanted to see their reactions.”  
Everyone laughed.  
A few seconds went by before Leo said, “What if they _are_ doing something though?”  
We thought it over before rushing over to the door quickly to listen in.  
There wasn’t a sound. Seven minutes later, they both came out, faces very red upon seeing us at the door.  
“Oh come on, did you even at least kiss?!” Leo said.  
“No!” Percy and Jason said at the same time.  
“Kiss then. Or you’ll be locked in there together.” I threatened.  
They hesitantly looked at each other before Percy leaned in and gave a tiny peck to Jason’s lips.  
Leo whistled. We all sat back down and passed the bottle around a few more times.  
When it was Percy’s turn again, he glared at me. “Nico, truth or dare?”  
“Dare.” I sighed happily, feeling tipsy.  
“I dare you to make out with Will.” He said, his words slurring together a little.  
“What?” Will and I said.  
“You made me kiss Jason. This is payback.” He winked.  
I sighed, irritated.  
“Oh c’mon, you don’t have to-” Will started.  
I cut him off by planting a kiss on his lips. I felt him gasp a little as he kissed me back. My inexperience showed as Will quickly took the lead, placing his hand on my cheek to adjust my head.  
We shared a few sloppy, drunk kisses before Leo’s whistling and Percy’s cheering started.  
I pulled back, panting a little as I scooted back to my spot on the floor, as I had somehow slid into Will’s lap in the madness. We both blushed very hard as I took the whiskey and took a couple of gulps. I looked at Will’s cherry red face and offered him the bottle too.  
“Piper, truth or dare?” 

I woke up in the morning, still on the floor at Hazel’s house, with a massive hangover.  
I saw that Piper, Annabeth, Hazel, and Calypso who didn’t really drink that much last night, were already up and making breakfast in the kitchen.  
“Hey Nico.” Piper said cheerily.  
I winced at the sunlight that was streaming through the window.  
“How’s your headache?” Annabeth asked smugly as she handed me water and some medicine.  
“Pretty bad.” I said, swallowing the pills.  
“I bet, you and Will probably drank the most after you-” Hazel started.  
“Hazel!” Piper cut her off suddenly.  
“After I what?” I asked cautiously.  
They studied me for a second.  
“You don’t remember?” Annabeth asked, slightly concerned.  
“Remember what?”  
They all looked at each other warily.  
“Nico, you… you kissed Will last night for a dare.” Piper said carefully.  
“Well, more like made out actually…” Calypso added in.  
“I _what_?!”  
“See, I told you he’d freak out.” Piper said.  
I started panicking.  
“Woah, Nico, calm down.” Hazel said soothingly.  
“D-d’you think he remembers?” I asked, breathless.  
“Judging by how much you both drank, and how much you remember, I’d say no.” Annabeth said.  
“You _could_ ask him.” Hazel suggested.  
“What?!”  
“It wasn’t _just you_ kissing you know.” She pointed out.  
I blushed and looked down at my feet.  
“You guys looked really cute together.” Calypso giggled.  
I blushed even more.  
“Nico, why won’t you just tell Will?” Hazel pleaded.  
“Tell me what?” Will groaned sleepily from behind me.  
“Uh, nothing!” I said quickly, avoiding his eyes.  
“O-kay?” He rubbed his eyes.  
Annabeth handed him a water and some medicine too.  
“Thanks.” He said. “So, can anyone tell me who I got a hickey from?”

_  
_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Tries to post a long chapter to hide the fact that I was really late*  
> I wanted to do something a little different by changing the perspectives. I think I'm going to change to Will's POV very soon. I'm getting as impatient as you guys so I want to get these nerds together ASAP (I just want to make sure I don't just jump to it and leave stuff out).  
> Also, I've never been to a party before, (;-;), so this is a guess??? ...  
> Translations:  
> Muchacho de la Muerte- Death Boy  
> Chico Sol- Sunshine Boy  
> Merda- Shit


	10. Hands On Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico does a little... self discovery.

“So, can anyone tell me who I got a hickey from?” Will asked curiously.  
I felt my heart drop. I looked at Hazel in a panic. I scanned his neck and sure enough there was a dark purple love bite right under his jaw. I didn’t even remember _giving_ him a hickey, but then again, apparently my drunk-self was pretty crazy.  
I saw Piper’s eyes shift to the living room where the other guys were starting to stir.   
“It was Leo!” She blurted out.  
“What?” both Will and Leo said at the same time.  
“He was dared to, don’t you remember?”  
Will looked at Leo, who looked as confused as he did.  
He sighed, “I don’t really remember anything actually.”  
I felt a weight lift off my shoulders. Will had been too drunk to remember us kissing. Something inside of me felt sad that he didn’t remember. I hardly remembered the actual kiss, but I assumed it had been pretty heated based on the hickey that I gave him. 

We ate breakfast and set off. Will took me back to the apartment and said his goodbyes.  
As soon as I got home I took a shower. I stood there, thinking about what Hazel had told me.  
“ _It wasn’t just you kissing._ ”   
I tried to remember last night, to no avail. I imagined what kissing Will was like; what he felt like, what he _tasted_ like.  
“Fuck.” I breathed, feeling myself becoming hard.  
I turned the shower off and wrapped a towel around my waist. I flung myself down on my bed and sighed.  
Now all I could think about was Will. I wondered what would have happened if we had continued kissing. Would we have gone further?   
_No_ , I thought, _We’re just friends._  
But then again, if we were _just friends_ , why did he kiss me back? Maybe he had just been too drunk to care.  
My mind went back to the kissing. If we hadn’t been interrupted, would we have gone further?  
I gulped, would we have had sex?  
That didn’t help with the whole erection thing. It made my mind go crazy.  
Who would have… topped? Oh god, who would have _bottomed_?   
I thought for a moment, Will _was_ taller and more muscular. I guess I kind of fit the more feminine role by being smaller, but then again, that really didn’t have anything to do with… with this.  
That brought up another question. What did… penetration… feel like?   
Sure, I wasn’t some clueless innocent virgin. I knew some people put… fingers and stuff in… there.  
I looked at my hard-on and sighed, why not just… try it now?  
I reached in my bedside drawer and fished out some lotion. Lotion wasn’t the _best_ lube, but I knew that lube was a must have in this situation.  
I slicked up my finger and reached it behind myself. I took a breath as I pressed it against my rim.   
The burning sensation was intense, but I didn’t want to give up quite yet. After a couple of seconds, it felt a little better, weird, but better. I tried thrusting it in and out a little bit.   
I didn’t feel anything particularly wonderful yet, so I added another finger. It stung a little more, but I adjusted quickly.  
I pushed them in as far as they could go. Suddenly, I felt _it_. My back arched and I bit back a moan.  
“Holy fuck.” I gasped.  
I searched myself for that spot again, and with a few strokes I found it again.  
I thought about how Will would feel. I wondered if he had ever done this before. Maybe _he_ wanted to be a bottom. I could imagine how good he would feel.   
I assaulted that spot some more and came, thinking about Will thrusting in to me, and me thrusting into Will, wondering which would be better.

I got dressed and fell asleep soon after that. It felt like I had just gone to sleep when my alarm went off.  
I groaned as I sat up and started to get ready.

~A couple of weeks later~

Will and I were working very hard for competition. It was going to be in a few days, and I was still worried about it. While Will had pretty much mastered his part, I still struggled.  
“Hey, it’s okay Nico.” Will assured me.  
“I’m still not ready…” I muttered.  
“It’s just the nerves.” He said.  
I looked into his deep blue eyes. I felt a little better, but I was still worried.   
“What if we’re not ready?”  
He looked at me intensely. “We will be Nic.”  
I sighed.  
“Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I didn't upload last week! I was visiting my family and was really busy.  
> I know the '...'s might be a little much, but it shows Nico's hesitation and thoughts about everything.  
> The chapter may be a little short, but the next one is going to be really long!


	11. It's Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico and Will go to competition!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry I didn't post this earlier, but I've had a lot of family drama today. Luckily I already had this chapter ready.  
> Also, I really suggest listening to Vivaldi's 'Winter' when you get to that part, it really helps set the tone. (All you have to do is google it to find the audio. Obviously in the story, it would sound different because it is only the two of them. They stop playing when there is a break about 4 minutes in).

I hardly slept at all. Competition was today and I was incredibly nervous.  
I got up a little bit before my alarm had gone off and got ready. We had to wear formal attire to the competition, which kind of sucked.  
I poured myself a bowl of cereal, but didn’t eat it.  
Bianca yawned as she shuffled over to me. I had told her not to get up so early on her day off, but she insisted.  
“ _Sarai fantastico_ , Nico.” She said sleepily.

Will came to pick me up a little early. He looked really nice in his dress shirt and pants. We both had pushed our shaggy hair out of our faces a little.  
“Hey.” Will smiled as I climbed into his truck. “You nervous?”  
“Always.” I sighed, staring out the window as he drove to the school.  
It was weird to see the empty school parking lot. Then again, it was also weird to be at school on a Saturday.  
We walked into the music room and saw the other students going.  
Miss Muse was frantically running around checking to see if everyone was ready. Her eyes landed on us and she made a mad dash over.  
“Will! Nico! Thank the gods that you’re here!” She let out a relieved sigh. “Are you two ready?”  
“Just got to get our instruments.” Will said.  
“And what about your music?” She turned to me.  
I felt my heart beating uncontrollably fast with panic.  
“It’s… okay.”  
Her expression faltered for a split second before returning.  
“Okay, it’s okay. That’s okay. You two will do fine! I’m sure of it.”  
It sounded like she was also trying to convince herself.  
I got my violin from my locker and turned to Will. He was putting his cello in a case.  
“Are you sure we can do this? Miss Muse did say that she would be okay with people pulling out if they didn’t feel ready.” I said nervously.  
“I don’t really think she was talking to us in that situation.” Will chuckled a little. “We’re her ‘star students’, she wouldn’t let us quit.”  
“She can’t _make us_ play though.”  
Will stopped suddenly and looked up at me.  
“Neeks, _why_ are you so nervous about this?” He asked.  
I looked down at my feet. “I-I just don’t think we’re ready, no, I don’t think I’m ready.”  
He sat back on his heels and chewed his lip a little before suddenly taking my hand. His intense eyes stared into mine.  
“Nico, you’re one of the best players I’ve ever seen. _You can do this_. I believe in you, okay?”  
He gave me an adorable smile and my heart melted a little.  
I averted my eyes away from him as I felt my cheeks heat up.  
He gave my hand a little squeeze before he let go.  
“Okay everyone! Hurry onto the bus, we’ve got to get going!” Miss Muse called out.  
Of course, Will and I sat together, our instruments separating us in the middle seat so we could prevent them from falling.  
I looked out the window at the world around us and tried to focus on my breathing.  
We all sat in silence until we got there, anticipating what our competitors were going to be like.  
As we were pulling up to a college theatre building, my phone buzzed.  
_Hope you don’t mind, but we drove up here to see your performance_! :)  
I groaned, and Will looked at me curiously.  
“Hazel brought everyone up here to watch.” I explained.  
“Oh. Wow.” Will said, looking slightly antsy now.  
We grabbed our instruments and got off of the bus. 

__There were a lot of people there. I felt my palms start to sweat as we broke off to do warm ups.  
Will and I were going to be the last group of our group to play, which was a relief and also very nerve wracking at the same time.  
See, when you go first, you set an example, but when you go last, you leave an impression.  
Miss Muse led us over to our seats to watch the other ensembles.  
I hardly heard anything but the sound of my own heartbeat. My leg continuously bounced; it a nervous tick that I had. As the lights dimmed a little, Will grabbed my knee to still my leg.  
He looked at me and I gave a silent thanks as he kept his hand there.  
I looked around for Hazel and the rest of our friends, but I assumed they were in the back, because I couldn’t find them.  
After about an hour, we were queued to get our instruments and line up behind the stage.  
Will and I were one of the only groups that was a duet. That made me even more nervous.  
After what only felt like seconds, it was our turn.  
As we waited for the other group to come off of the stage, Will turned to me.  
“Nico, I just wanted to say that whatever happens, I’m proud of you. You’ve made a lot of amazing progress, and I know that you’re nervous, but I know you’re going to do amazing. I’m so glad that I’ve had the honor of not only hearing you play again, but being by your side through it all.”  
I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but we were queued.  
It felt like my heart had exploded. Suddenly I had never wanted to tell him I loved him more than that moment.  
I felt some of my anxiety melt away as we walked out onto the stage. I saw Hazel and Bianca jump up in the back row and cheer. Jason, Piper, Percy, Annabeth, Frank, and Leo were all there too, smiling and waving at us.  
We moved our chairs and stands closer together and took out the sheet music.  
Someone announced us and said the name of our piece.  
I looked at Will, who was staring back at me. He nodded slightly, his eyebrows raised, and I nodded back.  
I breathed deeply as I placed my bow on the strings.  
There was complete silence as we played.  
Sweat started dripping on my forehead and down my neck. I saw some of my bow hairs break at the incredibly fast tempo.  
Almost as soon as we started, we stopped.  
Four minutes of a song, had felt like four seconds.  
As the last note rang out across the auditorium, there was a heavy silence, then suddenly, everyone in the room was on their feet, applauding us.  
I saw Bianca crying as she cheered. Hazel and Piper looked incredibly proud. Jason, Percy, and Leo were all trying to see who could cheer the loudest.  
I turned to Will, and before I could react, I felt his arms around my waist as he leaned down to give me a euphoric kiss.  
It took me a couple of seconds to register what was happening before I looped my arms up around his neck and pulled him closer.  
I heard a wolf-whistle from Leo (probably), as the applauding continued.  
It felt like an eternity before Will finally pulled away, a big grin on his face.  
The judges looked a little disapproving, but I didn’t pay attention.  
I almost left my violin on the stage, I was so high off of Will.  
He took my hand and led me to an empty area behind the stage.  
I had barely blinked before he had set down his cello and was pressing his mouth against mine again.  
I giggled as he peppered little kisses all over my face, his arms around my waist and my hands grabbing his shirt.  
“Nico Di’Angelo, I’ve always wanted to do that.” He breathed.  
I blushed and laughed, his face changing with confusion.  
“You kind of already have.” I said, still out of breath.  
“What?” He asked, puzzled.  
“We were too drunk to remember, but I think I gave you a hickey.”  
Realization blossomed on his face and his cheeks heated. “Oh.”  
I reached up and kissed him. “That one didn’t count.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, we're almost at the end! The only problem is, I don't really know how I want to actually end this! I know I kind of promised smut with the tags, but I'm not sure how to approach that. If you want, leave a suggestion of what you want to see in the last few chapters! \
> 
> Translations:  
> Sarai fantastico- You will be fantastic


	12. Sex Yeah

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You asked, and you shall receive ;))))

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry Mom

Bianca and Hazel had decided to throw a surprise party for us when we got back.   
They took us out to a nice restaurant, which _was_ pretty surprising, because Bianca never really liked to eat out.   
Everyone was really happy for us, mostly because Will and I had gotten together, and also because we had gotten the highest score out of anyone there.

It felt like I had died and gone to Elysium. It felt like time had slowed down for me. Will and I sat together, which was normal for us, but this time our bodies were pretty much pressed together.  
We ordered dessert, and as we waited, Will reached his hand under the table into mine and kept it there.   
It felt oddly new, yet not at the same time, like we had already been doing it for years, not just a couple of hours.   
Will drove me home, and when we got there, he walked me up to the front door and leaned down to kiss me again.  
It was a lot better than our first-technically-second kiss.  
He placed his big hands on my waist and pulled me close against him. He smiled for a few seconds, just looking at me.  
“So, you don’t have to say anything yet, but, do you maybe wanna be like… boyfriends?” he asked shyly.  
“I don’t know… that sounds pretty gay.” I teased.  
He laughed and kissed the top of my head. “Well I’d hope so.”   
“Yes, Will. Duh.”  
“Yes to…?”   
“Yes, I’ll be your boyfriend you dummy.”   
I reached up on the tips of my toes to kiss his cheek and he blushed.  
“Okay. Good.” 

~A couple of months later~  
((Will’s point of view))

Nico and I were cuddling on the couch, watching movies.   
It was cold outside and inside, and despite Nico wearing one of my sweatshirts and pajama pants, he still shivered.  
A couple of minutes ago, I had suggested spooning him, and after he got over being flustered, he agreed.   
He sighed as I wrapped my arm around him.  
“For once I don’t mind your unnaturally high body temperature.” He said sleepily.  
“Is that your way of calling me hot, Di’Angelo?” I teased.  
He groaned and rolled his eyes.   
A couple of minutes later, his eyelids started drooping a little.   
I leaned down a little and kissed his neck, his hair tickling my nose.  
He shivered and pushed back into my chest, trying to get closer.   
I moved a little higher and sloppily kissed the shell of his ear.  
He let out a small gasp and shivered again.  
He clumsily rolled over to face me, nearly falling off his small couch in the process.  
His big, doe-like eyes looked into mine.   
“Can I kiss you?” He asked shyly.  
“Of course.” I said.   
It was sweet how he was still a little shy about doing intimate things like cuddling or kissing.  
His lips pressed into mine and his hands grabbed onto my sweater.   
His kiss got a little more heated, and I moved onto my back so he could move on top of me.  
He pushed his cold hands under my sweater to warm them, making me shudder. I could feel his hands running over my abs.  
He suddenly pulled back, his butt resting on my lower abdomen.  
“I-is this okay?” he asked, brushing his hair out of his face a little and blushing.   
“Y-yeah.” I said, a little out of breath.   
“I-it’s just that we’ve never really talked about things more than… kissing and stuff.”  
“Are you implying that you want to have sex with me?” I asked, rubbing his thigh assuringly.  
His face turned even redder and he looked away from me.   
“I don’t know… It’s not like you’d _want_ to have sex with me or anything…”  
I narrowed my eyes at him. “What do you mean Nico?”  
“I… I don’t know. You’re just… intimidatingly hot and I’m…” he trailed off.  
“Nico, you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever laid eyes on.” I said seriously.  
His eyes flickered up to mine then down again.   
“That’s probably an exaggeration.” He said.  
I sighed and suddenly pushed him gently back on the couch, moving over him.   
“I think you’re gorgeous.” I said, hovering over his face.   
I kissed his eyelids. “I love your eyes, they’re like galaxies. I’m sure there’s some stars in them.”  
“They’re just black.” He muttered. “Your eyes are way better.”  
I hummed and kissed the top of his head. “You know what else is black? Your hair. I love it, it’s so soft and fluffy and I love running my fingers through it.”  
“It’s messy. I can’t ever control it, it’s got a mind of it’s own.”  
I moved back down a little and bit his lower lip, earning a small gasp.  
“I love your lips. They’re so perfect and kissable.”  
I kissed him again and he chased my lips as I moved a little lower and bit his neck lightly.  
He shuddered and I could feel his hips stutter up against mine.  
“I love your neck too. It’s so…” I sucked on the slightly red skin. “Sensitive.”  
A broken half-moan escaped his lips.   
My fingers slid under his shirt and he suddenly bolted up, moving away from me a little.  
“W-wait, we should go to my room.” He said. His voiced cracked a little and if it was possible, his face got redder.  
“Okay.” I grinned.  
He led me to his bedroom and turned on his lamp to provide some light. He laid back down and crossed his arms, looking shy again.   
I gently lowered myself over him again, trying not to crush him.   
“Now, where were we?” I hummed, then found the hem of his shirt again. “Oh, yeah.”  
He helped me pull off his shirt and hoodie, revealing his pale chest that was slightly pink from embarrassment.  
I ran my hand down his chest and he let out a sigh.  
“I wonder if your nipples are as sensitive as your neck.” I teased.  
“W-what?” His voice cracked and he gasped as I teasingly bit one lightly.  
“I guess so.”   
I teased the other one with my fingers as I continued.  
He tried his best to choke down his moans but a few escaped. It sounded like music to my ears.  
Soon he was shuddering and he gently pushed me away, his eyes screwed shut.  
“D-did you…?”  
“N-no!” He snapped defensively.  
I sat back on my heels, still straddling his legs. I could see the obvious tent in his pajama pants. He had gotten _really_ turned on from that apparently.  
He had apparently gotten impatient too.  
“Will.” He complained.  
“Sorry.” I laughed a little. “Man, you sure are impatient when you’re horny. Good to know.” I said with a devilish grin.  
He gulped nervously.  
My fingers fumbled with his waistband and I stopped to look up at him.  
“Are you still okay?” I asked softly, examining his face for anything.  
“Y-yeah. Are you?”  
“I’ve never been better.”  
He nodded and shut his eyes a little as I pulled his waistband down.  
After I had gotten his pants completely off, I admired his tight black boxers.  
“Really, even your _underwear_ is black?” I teased.   
“It’s a good color, okay.” He bit back.  
I softly traced the outline of his erection and his feistiness died instantly.   
I could feel my own erection become painfully hard and I remembered I still had my clothes on. I pulled my sweater over my head and moved up onto my knees as I stared to unbutton my jeans.  
“Will, why’d you-”  
He stopped as his eyes roamed my body. I suddenly felt as bashful as he was.   
I awkwardly shimmied out of my jeans and got back on the bed.  
“You like what you see?” I joked.  
He blushed and nodded quickly.  
I leaned down to kiss him, our erections rubbing together as I did, earning a breathy moan from both of us.   
His kiss was needy and he seemed like he was determined to never let me stop kissing him.   
Unexpectedly, he bucked his hips up to meet mine, searching for that friction again.  
I pressed my forehead against his as I tried to find my breath from the sensation.  
“Angel, you’re going to be the death of me.”   
He giggled, almost sounding a little drunk. His arms snaked up around my shoulders as he pulled me down for another kiss.   
I could feel heat start to gather in the room. A thin sheen of sweat started to appear on both of us. Rutting against each other was amazing, but I could tell that the more turned on part of me wanted to change things up a little.   
“Nic?” I asked, trying to catch my breath again. “Do you want to maybe…”  
“Yes.” He said very quickly.  
“Okay.” I said, a slight grin on my face. “D-d’you want to be the t-top or bottom?”   
I cringed at my own words. I could tell that he had felt embarrassed too.  
“Gods, that sounded kind of weird.” I muttered.   
I scanned his face. “I don’t want to push you or anything. I just want you to feel comfortable, okay baby?”   
He blushed at the nickname came out of my mouth. He seemed to think for a moment.  
“I-I can be the bottom. If you want. I know you don’t like to try new things sometimes. You’ve probably never stretched or anything before. I sure haven’t.”  
I was rambling, and I knew it. I just really didn’t want to push it. I also _really_ wanted to feel how he felt.  
“I have before.” Nico suddenly said.  
My sex-clouded brain wasn’t comprehending what he said.   
“Hmm?”   
“I-I’ve stretched myself before.”   
Dear gods I felt like moaning when he said that. Just the mental image of him doing that to himself on the same bed we were laying on made me feel light headed.  
“I’ll be the bottom.” He determined.  
“Are you sure?” I asked, not wanting him to say that for my sake.  
“Ugh, Will, just fuck me already.” He groaned.  
He _definitely_ got impatient when he was horney.  
“O-okay.”   
I finally reached down to the waistband of his boxers. He lifted his hips and I pulled them down, his member springing out and laying against his stomach. I pulled mine down too and hissed as mine stood up, almost painfully hard, ready to release.  
“Lube?” I asked, kissing his collarbone.  
He reached into his bedside drawer and fished out a small bottle.   
“Wow, I didn’t actually think you’d have any.” I said, slightly dumbstruck.  
“You doubt me, Sunshine.” He pestered.  
I slicked up my fingers and placed one of them at his entrance.   
He let out a sigh as I pressed my finger through the muscle. I didn’t really know what he was feeling, but I assumed it wasn’t that bad. I pushed my finger all the way in and he shivered a little.  
“You okay?” I asked, kissing his knee gently.  
He nodded quickly, his eyes screwing shut suddenly as I pressed another finger in.  
“Y-your fingers are j-just… bigger than mine.” He choked out.   
I sat back on my heels and watched him, trying to be gentle.   
I could barely move my fingers inside of him. I figured I’d at least need to stretch him with three of my fingers before he was ready, but at this rate, I wasn’t going to be able to without some discomfort.  
I looked down at his cock, looking a little less hard than before, so I reached for it with my other hand.  
I stroked his shaft and his back slightly arched, his cock filling up again.  
Nico grunted as I copied that movement again.   
“ _Fanculo_.” He moaned.   
I chuckled a little, he was apparently switching to Italian now.  
I stroked him a few more times until precum started to leak from him and he felt a little looser.  
I inserted another finger and he whimpered.  
“You okay Neeks?” I asked, working in my third finger gently.  
“ _Si_ \- uh, yeah.” He said hoarsely.  
I leaned down and kissed the tip of his nose.  
“You speaking in Italian is hot.” I whispered.  
“Hmm.” He hummed, his hair sticking to his forehead. “ _Mi piacerebbe che tu sia dentro di me adesso_.”  
His dark eyes met mine and I understood what he meant.   
He felt loose enough, so I slicked up my length and pressed my head to his entrance.  
“You sure you still want to do this?” I asked hesitantly.  
“ _Por favore_ , Will. _Adesso_!” he pleaded.  
I pushed only a little in. Nico lost his breath and let his head go limp on the pillows.  
I pushed more till I was halfway in. Nico moaned, and arched his back again.  
“Wh-what was that? Do you need me to stop?” I said franticly.  
“Absolutely not.” He panted.  
I waited a few seconds before I pushed all the way in.  
~Nico’s point of view~  
Pleasure burned through me as Will finally settled inside me. His hands were gripping the sheets on each side beside me and his shaggy hair had fallen in his face as he adjusted to being inside of me. He was panting heavily.  
I was hoping this was as good for him as it was for me.  
He looked like an actual god, even with sweat dripping off of him.  
I wrapped my legs around him and he looked at me.  
“You’re really tight, huh.”  
“Just… move.” I told him.  
He gave me a shallow thrust and I felt liquid fire pool in my stomach. I was trying my best not to moan and embarrass myself.  
“D-does it feel good?” Will asked, his voice wavering a little.  
“ _Yes_.” I hissed.  
“O-oh. Good. I j-just couldn’t tell ‘cause you weren’t really…” He trailed off.  
“You _want_ me to moan like a porn star?” I teased.  
He blushed fiercely. “I-I j-just…”   
“Well, if you move, then maybe I will.” I coaxed.  
He laughed and rolled his eyes before thrusting again.

~Will’s point of view~  
I was slightly determined to make Nico scream. Not that I’d ever admit that though.   
I sure did wipe the sly grin off of his face as I gave a proper, hard thrust.  
“Fuck.” I hissed.   
If I kept this up I’d probably come sooner than I’d like, but Nico looked close already.  
I kept a steady rhythm as I thrusted in to him, making sure to find that spot from before that made him unravel.  
I’d barely done it for a couple of seconds before Nico said through gritted teeth,   
“Harder.”  
I leaned down and started giving him sloppy kisses on his neck as I started to pound into him.

~Nico’s point of view~  
Our moans mixed together as well as the slapping of skin.  
I could feel myself getting closer with every thrust. Will’s kisses slowed to a stop, and if it was possible, he started trying to go deeper and harder.  
He rested his forehead on my chest as he pounded into that sweet spot inside of me.   
Before long I could feel his release as I soon followed.

~Will’s point of view~  
The moment of Nico coming was going to be embedded in my brain forever.   
He was still trying to catch his breath as I looked for our underwear.  
“We should do that again sometime. Soon.” He panted.  
“Oh, definitely.” I grinned.   
I tossed him his boxers and his flannel pajama pants.   
“Are you sore?” I asked shyly.  
“Only a lot.” He said, wincing as he tried to sit up.  
“Sorry.” I mumbled.  
“I did ask for it.” He said, a sly grin on his face.   
“That’s true.”   
We walked back to the couch and resumed watching our movie again, still cuddling.  
“I love you.” I whispered into his hair.  
“I love you too, dork.” 

_  
_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to start off by saying: OHMYGOD THIS WAS A LITTLE STRESSFUL!!! This is like, my first smut ever, and getting everything perfect was a little difficult... I also want to say that I need to end this work very soon because I start back to school this Monday, and I literally won't have any time. I'm also a little OCD and 15 is just a satisfying number to me so I want to at least go until then, but that might change. There will probably be some more smut later, but it just depends because I really don't know if I'll have time. Just be patient with me please because I really want to finish on a good note too.
> 
> Translations:   
> Fanculo- fuck  
> Mi piacerebbe che tu sia dentro di me adesso- I'd love you to be inside me right now  
> Si- yes  
> Adesso- no (and or right now, idk)


End file.
